Nobility

Uh oh! Looks like this selfless warrior wandered a little too far from her lair (206701, duskflower), and now she's off to see the world! If ever you feel the urge to exalt, she'd really appreciate it if you could just return her home instead, or to the 'Dragons Off To See The World' thread, here.

Nobility
"Love is the most difficult and dangerous form of courage. Courage is the most desperate, admirable and noble kind of love."

Timid ~ Kind
Perseverent ~ Unsure of herself
Full of love

~ Letters ~

206701, duskflower
Dear mother,

While I admit that I kept my composure in front of the rest of the tribe, I admit it: I'm terrified. I'm terrified that I'll be too weak when I need to stand for others, that I'll never be as mighty as Faith was. The first thing I need to do is to better my fighting, because I have a long way to go in that. I was anxious to leave despite my lack of skills because I knew if I waited any longer I would never end up leaving at all. Wish me luck on my travels - I'll need it - and courage to stand strong when the times come.
Yours,
Ili

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84626, Sucrechat
Dear mother,

I have been welcomed into the Zephyr Wind Clan. Their leader Tinderu is a little intimidating, but everyone is very nice.
Yesterday, two warriors named Labyrinth and Zuko took me out for training. I got stronger, momma! They've let me borrow a familiar companion until I'm ready to leave again. While I am still a little nervous about my strength and where my journey will take me, this seems like a good first step for me.
Always yours,
Ili

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90706, Strukla
Dear mother,

I'm still in the Wind territory. I've met an interesting dragon, hiding deep down in the canyons underneath the plains. He was nice to me and shared what food he managed to gather and his shelter with me, but he looked so sad all the time. We've spent some time together and that's when I heard his own clan abandoned him. That really shook me; how can anyone you call a friend abandon you? The mere thought makes me anxious even now. Still, he said he forgives them.
I don't know if I could. I hope I could but, mother, I also hope to never end up in that situation. I tried to comfort him but I couldn't think of much to say. Still, he smiled kindly and thanked me for my kindness. After hearing a little about me, he called me courageous. "It takes a lot of inner strength to travel alone, and remain kind after everything you might witness. You are strong and you are courageous; don't doubt yourself." That's what he told me.
Our parting was bittersweet, but I feel a bit better about myself now. I hope he finds peace.

Love you and miss you, Mom.
Your Ili

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269810, BetaArt
Dear Mother,

I've came across this clan called RavenFall and they seem very friendly but at the same time odd. For example one of the dragons named Windstar told me that he had a scroll that could change my genes, I was scared at first but he told me not to worry and that he'd let me choose! So I picked out this one called speckle and now my scales have all these little dots, Windstar told me that they were permanent unless I wanted to change them but I think I'll keep them for now. Other than that I decided to adopt a hatchling named Aracaryn her mother didn't seem interested keeping her said she was the 'runt' of the litter. So I decided to raise her myself until Aracaryn feels like she can handle herself. Anyways I'm sorry I haven't sent you any letters recently but don't worry mother I'm doing great. Oh, Aracaryn says hi too.

Love you and miss you, Mom.
Your lli

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55037, Vipera

Dear mother,

Aracaryn is growing very fast, both in physique and mentality. I suspect she may even surpass me one day. I would love to say I taught her well, but mother, I believe she was destined to become a warrior, just like Faith.
One day, she spotted two wildclaws training with one another. They were a funny bunch. They acted as if they hated each other, always screaming, but you could see in their eyes that they held a very special place in each others' hearts. We sparred with them for a while and they taught us maneuvers we have never known before.
We're getting stronger, Aracaryn and I. Each day, I feel closer to Faith, yet I'm not sure if I'll ever reach her. Still, I hope you are proud of me, mother.

Forever yours,
Ili

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313419, Cvhruig
Dear Mother,

Aracaryn is still accompanying me. Watching her makes me proud, but also insecure. In her I see a better version of myself. Well, she is still very young, but have I failed? Will it not be possible for me to become who I want to be one day? My doubts have grown for some time. Now don't misunderstand, I care very deeply for Aracaryn and love her deeply alike, but I have been having doubts in myself. What if this is not my destiny?...
So it has now been a few days since I wrote the first part of this letter. I spoke to this wise warrior, Logos, and he told me that I should not worry. In order to really be like Faith, I have to share my own knowledge with others but also listen to other's knowledge. I think this is wise. Logos is one of the best fighters I have ever seen, but he is also so humble and caring. I want to take that with me, I think it'll help me, and more importantly, help others eventually.

Yours,
Ili

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357752,AsteriasMight
Dear Mother,

Somehow, when we were wondering the Windswept Plateau, we got very lost. Every minute being lost felt like hours, until we were found by Odin and his two children when they were on a hunting trip. They took us back to their clan. It was a smaller clan, which was relatively empty when we arrived. We met the queen shortly after. I believe her name was Opal and she seemed very sad. She told us she would allow us to stay as long as we wanted which was nice of her.
I fear that this may be where Aracaryn and I will split ways. She met a very handsome skydancer named Odysseus and they've fallen in love. I suspect they are expecting hatchlings though they have kept quiet about it. I love her and I am going to miss her company.
Love,
Ili

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305999, Rinwood
Dear Mother,

Ṣ̶̨̧͎̱̟̳̞͓̭̜̜̳̦̦͙̹͕ͧ̿̀́̿ͩH͌ͪ̃̉̽ͫ̋ͩ̔ͨ̇ͮ̔͐͌͞͏͞͏̯͕̺͕̼̦̲̼̦̠͕̬̱̩ͅE̷̠̻͈̣͕̣̝͙̤̐ͦͩ̐ͪ̈́̽͟ ͒͋ͨ̓ͬ̈́̈́̄͌̈́̉̀̐̕͡҉͚̳̩I̤͔͉̒ͩ͊̌̈́ͭͫ͢͝ͅS̭̟̪̼͖̠͙̪̮͖͇̹͎̗̒ͧͬͩ͗̽̔ͤ̓́ ͆̓͑ͮ̃̆ͧ́͠҉̖̗̹̜̜͔͎͓̩͈͕̳̜̣̫̠̜̣̲͟W̵ͭ̄̈̐ͨͪͥ̏̋͊̊͗̐͂̿̚͝҉͚̻̘̥̭̖͉͙͉͎͇͖̯́A̰̲̙̤̘͎̩̝̖͍͚̓͒ͧ̒̆́́ͦ̐͒͛͆́ͅT̵̨̳͚̮ͪ̑̓ͣͯͧͯ͑̍ͬͯͭ̌̈́ͪ͆̌̀͠ͅC̷̢̛̮̲͎͚̫̀̿̏̃͘͞Hͧ̎͊̇҉̦̙̞̣̟̖̦͓̻̙̖̬͕͟I̴̤̯̦̼̪̭̮̞̲̰̥̭̦̼̞̗̝̦ͧ̇ͤͫͩ̓͂ͫͦ̈̏̋̅̚͟͢͢͡N̸̈ͥͮ̐͌̑̄̅͠͝҉̻̥̙̺̤̘̘̬͍̞͍̖̹̙̥͎̗͈̩G̨̡̟͇̯̤͇̬̣ͭ͌ͩͧ̎ͩ͊̏̍̚͟͡ ̸̡͚͕̭̦͈̟̬̮͈͙̯ͮͯ͆ͭͥ͒̽̍ͯ͛͒͆̍̓͆̍̉͘͘ͅͅM͓̩̗̲̝͈̖̰̞͊ͯ̄͋̈͗ͪ͋̅͐̚͢É̵̢̛̥̦̩̦͔̼ͪ̒̒̊̍̍̔̊̅͛̅͡.͒̀̔ͫ̈́͆ͫͨͮͧ͏͏̵҉̯̞͉̤̤̘̥̝̮͍̘̭͈͇̲̯.̞̯͕̲̫̭͉̥̳̼̤͈̙͈͈̩̳̙͑̽̿͐̈̐̀.̷̷̴̱̯̼̤̠͎̰̙̹̪̳̞͈̉̓̊ͮͨ͂͌̾ͥ͢͡ͅ.̴͇̠̳̩̣̻̹͓̣̬̩͎͚̖̟̥̮̮ͤ͒ͭͧ̊̒ͪͨ̌̉ͪ̐̃͊̆ͪ͂͌͜.

From Ili

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288849, EmeraldJubilee
Dear Mother,

I'm sorry for not writing recently, and I hope I haven't caused you too much worry. Especially after my previous letter. I felt...chased, but I found no chaser after hours of searching. As it turns out, I was being shadowed by a guard for a nearby clan. She invited me to her clan to rest after she realized I didn't mean any harm. Her name is Nadezhda, and her clan is called Virilux. Aracaryn did end up staying in the Windswept Plateau with Odysseus. But I wasn't alone for long.
At Virilux, I met a very sweet Skydancer named Spectregrasp. I could write pages and pages about him, but I'm sure that would be boring to read. I fell in love with Spectregrasp. I had three hatchlings with him; Purity, Perserverance, and Reverance. All daughters, and all Spirals. We raised them together. They're all amazing young dragons, and I'm sure they're going to do great things. I wanted to stay here in Virilux with them, and for a while I was going to, but...I still haven't really helped anyone. There's still so much going on that I could stop, dragons I could help, I could save, I could protect. I...I had to go. Spectregrasp understood, though. I...I'm going to miss him. Two of my daughters have decided to travel; they found their calling helping others, like me an my sister. I suppose I told them too many of those hero stories you told me, but I'm proud of them.
Perseverance has the same goal as me, but she has decided to do travel alone for now. She reminds me so much of Faithfulness. Purity has gone to try and protect the blameless through words and actions, to try and bring dragons together with as little fighting as possible. She's small and soft-spoken, but I'm sure she will do amazing things. Perseverance is going to be writing you, because it would be difficult for us to send messages to each other. Could you tell me how she is every now and then?
So much has happened, Mother, and I'm ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. I just hope I'll be able to see everyone from chapters passed before my story ends. Would it be alright if I dropped by? Just for a cup of tea, I could really use it.
Yours,
Ili

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Dear Mother,

Thanks again for everything in my last visit. Those cups of tea felt like liquid courage - give my love to Lapsang for all the free pots of tea she brewed for us - and it was good to have some familiarity. So much had changed since I first said goodbye to you that my head was spinning. I thought it would be battlescars that would change me, but it is actually the dragons I’ve met and known and cared deeply for that have. My dear friend Arcaryn...my love, Spectregrasp (my heart aches whenever I think of him - I do not regret the time we shared but oh, I cannot bear the longing to see him again) and, of course, my little daughters that have grown up to be so strong and brave and beautiful. But, hearing your stories again, I’m reminded of one thing: even if my heart aches, I know that my duty is not yet fulfilled. I will ever-serve the hurting in Sornieth even as I love Spectre and my daughters as fiercely as always. I fight for them, now, fight for a better world for the ones I love most. If I can do that even a little, all will be worth it. I cannot help but dream, though, of the day I again visit Clan Virilux and see my Spectre and Reverence again, or when I cross ways with Purity or Perseverence again.

Ever yours,
Ili

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#149136, Lirillith

Dear Mother,

I spent some time in the Wind Territory, but now I've found my way back to the Viridian Labyrinth again. The Forest Falls Sanctuary - have you heard of them? We're up on the north side of the Behemoth, and it's a fairly busy village here. There are a number of other warriors here, and I've continued my training as well. On the suggestion of the Guardian, Zanaida, I'm specializing as a mage and healer. There's a part of me that feels like this is a step back from my purpose, that I'm taking the easier, safer route. But how better to help someone than by healing? I can still learn offensive magic as well, after all.

One of the other warrior trainees, a Bogsneak named Oceanheart, found a lost egg and came to me for help with it. We were friends already, but not close, so I was surprised, but he said he'd chosen me because of the way I spoke about my own children - he could tell I was a good mother. I was so touched that I agreed on the spot. So I get to experience motherhood again, odd as it is to do so when the father in question is just a friend. I named the little one Diligence, although "little" is a bit of a misnomer - he already outweighs me! He's a sweet, loving little guy, so different from my daughters in their hatchling days but so similar at the same time. It's making me miss them all the more. I hope I can get a few letters out to them, and receive a few in return, while I'm staying here.

Yours, as always,
Ili

Dear Mother,

Can you believe it, Mother? I'm still in the same place, though not for much longer - the clan's leaders are moving to the Light Flight, and while I don't think the entire large clan will move with them, all of the warriors are. And since the warriors are my trainers and closest friends, I'm going with them.

I should have seen it coming, really. You know how Nature clans can be about Plague dragons, even when they left the Plaguebringer's Territory long ago? My Spectregrasp had to deal with that so much... I won't say that there's no prejudice in this clan, but they certainly have a diverse population, from all over Sornieth. Most of the clan's healers are Plague dragons. And when there are so many dragons from every flight, inevitably many of them want to hold on to some of their own traditions, and that's causing tension with some of their neighbors. And even internally - there's a tremendous controversy over a memorial to the clan's dead, because the Earth dragon hired to do it isn't making it in accordance with Nature traditions, according to some of the clan's druids.

So there are many dragons who've begun feeling unwelcome in Nature who want to move, and many others who love living here, and refuse to. It pains me to see dragon families and friendships damaged by the debate. But at the same time, I'm used to travel and change, and I can feel the excitement in the air among those who look forward to the move. Luckily, my own little family is happy enough to depart - Oceanheart already left the Water Flight and is open to another change, and Dil is young and resilient, ready for anything. I'm raising him on the same sort of stories you told me all my life. Oceanheart is pragmatic, and thinks I'm filling his head with fairy tales, but I say the world needs more of this sort of fairy tales.

Yours,
Ili

Oh, Mama. I don't even know how to begin. I can't write this letter. I got word yesterday that my dear Spectregrasp has passed away. It was just a short note, with no details, and I can't stop wondering what happened, how it happened, if there was any way I could have helped him or protected him or at least been with him at the end.

I can't forgive myself. Why did I ever leave? I haven't helped anyone, or accomplished anything, in all the time I spent away from him. If I'd only stayed at his side, at least we'd have had a few more years together. I could have been with him when he passed. All my wanderings have done is cause hurt and loneliness to the one I loved. No one is better off for my travels, and the ones I love the most have suffered for them. Why did I ever think I could be a hero?

Ili

Dear Mother,

Thank you for the letter, Mama. And the packet of tea. It's not the same as drinking it with you, but it's a comfort all the same.

And please, don't worry. You needn't drop everything to come visit me. I'm not all alone here - Oceanheart is a dear friend, for all our differing views, and he's been a rock in all this, a wonderful shoulder to cry on. Dil is a sweetheart, and his stories and songs and little presents can help bring a smile to my face even at the darkest times.

And I've struck up the unlikeliest friendship. Nessi is a... she's essentially a pirate. I always steered clear of her, planning to challenge her when I was strong enough. But she and Oceanheart are friends, and when he told her what I was going though, she sought me out. She's been through so much, Mama - losing her children and her mate, being forced into slavery - and yet she's never made me feel that my own suffering is lesser. She's been so kind, just listening to me, and she's offered me a place on her ship.

Don't worry, Mama! I've no intention of becoming a pirate. Nessi primarily seeks out and plunders slave ships, freeing the slaves - dragon and beast alike - and taking any treasure the slavers may have accumulated. Is it foolish of me to consider her offer? I just so badly want to HELP someone, to make some sort of difference, if only to justify all my travels. If Spectregrasp wouldn't have wanted me to give up, as everyone tells me, then surely the least I can do is show some results now.

Yours,
Ili

Dear Mother,

I hope you haven't worried too much during the gap between my letters. I've just been busy. I've been busy on purpose, throwing myself into work to keep myself from thinking. There's so much work to do, after all, building housing for so many dragons, unpacking books in the library and equipment in the forge. Every dragon has their belongings. The whole hoard had to be moved. There are so many things to be unpacked and put away. At least I can be helpful here.

I don't know if you've heard from Purity or Vera, but I did learn a bit more about how Spectregrasp died. It was an accident; he got caught in a sudden storm while flying and he wasn't able to get to safety in time. It wasn't some lingering illness, I couldn't have watched over his sickbed... but now I have to think of him spending his last moments in pain and fear, instead. And would he have been out flying if I was there? What if I'd been with him - could I have healed him, or gone for help?

Does it ever get any easier, Mama?

I have been helping Nessi with her rescue missions. It's slow work; they can't very well identify a slaver by sight, so sometimes they do indeed board a ship and simply plunder treasure. I don't feel good about that, even if they're preying upon fellow thieves rather than legitimate merchants.

But we did defeat a slave ship recently! We were able to free dozens of Beastclan slaves and a half-dozen Pearlcatchers who'd had their pearls confiscated; we brought them back to shore, reunited them with their pearls, and then... let them go. Nessi tells me that freedom and time are what they need now, but I wish we could do more for them; they looked so lost. And the enslaved Longnecks were the same; ears drooping, shoulders slumped, and a few of them literally lost, with no idea how to get back to their home territories. Those we brought back to the clan headquarters - the Sunflower Symphony - because the head librarian, Alexandria, has a Longneck companion who would help them.

I don't feel proud, really. Happy, for those we've freed, but I know their experience will mark them despite our help, so it's a bittersweet happiness. I thought heroics would be less complicated.

Yours,
Ili

Dear Mother,

This will be my last letter from the Sunflower Symphony. I've lingered here for so long - training, raising Dil, grieving, working - and I feel I've finally done some good. But I also feel I'm strong enough now to do good elsewhere.

And my little Diligence, my enormous baby boy, has decided to follow in my footsteps - or maybe to do as I say and not as I do - and begin traveling as well. He's writing to Oceanheart - we got his first letter this morning - as a gesture of faith that I'll be traveling soon as well. I can't let him down. I'm saying goodbye to all my friends, my teachers, to Nessi and Oceanheart, and packing my things. My next letter... who knows where I'll write it from?

I love you, Mama,
Ili

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* Please, please don't exalt Ili if you can help it at all. I'll (duskflower) gladly take her back and send her off again if you run out of room. Give a ___ get a ___ threads are common places where dragons get exalted as well, so it'd be a good idea to keep her in Dragons Off to See the World. If something urgent comes up and you have to exalt her, I'd really appreciate it if you could copy-paste her complete bio first and send it to me so all her lore isn't lost (don't worry - I won't attack you or anything if you admit you exalted her, I understand). Thank you ^-^
* Her apparel is passed on in good faith that every user she stays at won’t take it for their own. Continuing to pass on every item specifically associated with her in her bio is very, very appreciated!
* Feel free to breed her if it’s for the Annebelle memory project (see last point). If you don’t know what you do with the hatchlings I (duskflower) would be happy to take some, but since Ili currently has a mate and children in-lore I’d rather you not include any other lovers in her letters.
* You don't have to write a letter for her if you don't have any time (even two sentences works) but please put your name down anyway so we can keep track of who has had her.
* When you write a letter, please send the contents of it to me (duskflower, 206701) so I can keep track of all her letters.
* Nobility is a part of a special lineage of dragons descending from the lair of a deceased user named Annebelle (her daughter, VanGone, still plays the game and is in charge of a memory project). (taken from: http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/drt/1555175) Feel free to write lore and contribute any children of Ili's to the project
Ili is connected to Annabelle's clan through her grandmother Starrise

Thank you so much!