Rohan

• R O H A N • THE TREASURE HUNTER

Hatchday: May 29, 2018 Original clan: light Parents clans: Father - fire Bogsneak // Mother - light Skydancer Came to clan: was taken in on Jan 13, 2018 (atinae) Treasure-Hunter-Team: leader - Mishka // Rohan, Gahiji, Kaleen and xxxxx -//- // // //

"I do have a sense of humor. You only think I do not because I do not care to mock people." Rohan is intelligent and a free thinker, someone who'd easily fit into a society. BUT, he always does the right thing, with no regard for who he hurts in the progress. Some say, Rohan might be the best example of a how one could be too rigid and unwavering in what they believe is right and wrong that it can be every bit as bad. Still, it’s not that he is trying to do anyone harm, it’s just that his interests conflict with others quite often. Although Rohan has his pig head and goes for anything he believes in without doubt, the moment someone butts his head and proves him wrong Rohan is able to acknowledge that his sense of rightness has mislead him and changes his ways accordingly. Accomplishments mean nothing for Rohan, and he never boasts about how he is very good in strategy and tactics.

Former leader: Krashos

Day 1 and 2 - Invitation and Crisis

Rohan had received the invite to the Masked Murder’s Unity Festival just a few hours ago. One of the Harpies currently working at the clans’ Trading Company entrusted it to him. It still baffled him, usually one just gave him that look and tried to put some distance between them. Not, that he was that bad of a dragon, but he had his principles and sometimes it didn’t sit well with everyone else’s.

The Harpie’s camp was just around the corner, only a few clicks away at the Plumage Peak. It was rather high up but had a nice feeling to it. The Skydancer liked the way everyone was moving around, focused on the task at hand, eager to finish the preparations. Then, one of the harpies shouted out to him and welcomed Rohan, showing him around for a bit. Her draconic could need some work on, but was still easy to understand and the Skydancer decided to just connive at it.

“I thank you for the invitation. It is a delight being here and to take part in the festivities.” - Rohan knew his voice sounded a bit stiff, but he didn’t mean anything by it. It was his way of talking.

The golden wreath in the middle of the festival area had his interest the moment Rohan entered the camp and he listened closely to his guides explanations. While it still had some unanswered facts to it, the dragon decided not to drill the harpy with his questions and rather go to work first.

“Well, I think I will check on the drinks over at the tables. If there is anything else I can help with, please let me know.”

He tended his head lightly at the harpy that was already scurrying away and got to work himself.

Rohan went on with his work, inspected the drinks and ignored the beeps that could be heard from time to time. It unsettled him a bit, but he ignored it nonetheless as he had a job to do! When he noticed a loud bang, the bright light… he was already surrounded by darkness.
He had no idea about how much time had already passed. There was a painful throbbing in his head, his vision was incredibly bleary and his thoughts were all over the place.

“Where am I? What happened…?”

Then the pain hit him hard, he was unable to breathe or lift a finger. Screaming finally reached his muffled ears and he tried to just move his eyes to look around. Rohan noticed two harpies were standing over him, gawking and when one of them tapped his side with its staff, a bust of energy surged through his body. He was able to get up.

Destruction and little fire were everywhere. Then a screech stopped everything and everyone in their tracks. At the Wreath, a piece of parchment that was found. Another commotion has broken out... Rohan tried to calm his head; he was still shaken and couldn’t concentrate on what was going on.

Finally he was able to catch a glimpse of the caption and the gruesome depiction. Something very bad was happening on here! And everyone’s piercing looks…

“Be honest, dragon ambassador! Do you know anything about this?”

Once again, Rohan tried to gather his thoughts and--as it was his nature--just told them what he belived was the truth.

“I will be honest! Please listen!

"I got to know about your festival this morning as one for yours, a young Harpy currently employed at Clan Àidhear’s Trading Company, invited me. She only told me about a Celebration, nothing else.

"I have no knowledge about my Clan planning an attack or ever being part of radical groups plotting against the Beastclans. We have build such a good relationship with one another, so I can not imagine anyone of our family--myself included--having any connection to whoever planned this attack!

"While I personally detest the Talonok due to recent attacks towards our youngest, I would never choose to use such gruesome methods! And never on a day of peace and unity.

"I never had ill feelings against your Clan and felt honored being invited today.

"So, I have no idea who is behind all of this, but I have nothing to do with it.”

Rohan voice was calm, he also displayed quite a disgusted impression on his face as he tried to include the sight of the disaster and his feelings about another dragon planning such a disaster into his last few sentences.


Day 3 - Meeting with the Harpies leader

It seemed like Rohan had avoided the imminent crisis. While some of the present harpies softened their stands and might actually belief in the dragon’s words, others still darted angry glances in his direction. After discussing the matter between themselves, they decided to take Rohan to their leader, who then should what next steps had to be taken.

The situation was actually better than the Skydancer had hoped for. So he kept his mouth shot and followed the decorated harpies. The road took them down a path into a bamboo forest where they finally stopped at a decorated wooden hut. Inside the open-air hut Rohan met with the leader of the Harpies for the first time.

“That would have been my wish also. Whatever happened today is a disaster! As it seems, being here involved me in the matter in quite a bad way. I will accept your challenge and clear my name.”

Rohan was rushed out and left on his own the moment he finished the sentence. They currently had other, much important concerns right now. And he himself should get going too, there was only one week to find the real culprit of todays events.

First, he had to decide, what to do: He could return to the scene and look around for some clues. But with all the worked up harpies rushing around, taking care of the injured ones and starting the cleanup he could get in trouble just showing his nose there. He could also ask to have a look at the propaganda left behind. It was meant to be found, so it was deliberately put up for anyone to look at and might just contain misleading information. What motivation did that person making it have? Did it want to manufacture proof for their point of view; or to simply gain attention for their cause; or was it made to deliberately discredit someone of important (whoever that might be); or did someone just wanted destroy the trust between dragon and beastkin? There were just too many possible intentions hidden behind that single piece of paper! He should have a look for himself and find out more…

As he was about to make his ways to find someone able to point him towards the one holding said propaganda, a bunch of bamboo stalks started rustling next to Rohan. But his mind was just filled with the correct steps on how to analyze a polemic pamphlet he had learned about from his friend back home. The one who was currently making their way through Ambassador Training. Rohan just had to remember what they had talked about back then.

Well, first he had to actually find the one holding on to the politic propaganda!


Day 4 - The Parchment

Just as Rohan was about to reenter the hut to express his appeal and waited to be let in, as a shadow was casted over him. The arriving Harpy didn’t even noticed the dragon standing there as it rushed past him and came on hold in front of the throne, frantically holding a colorful parchment in its claws. The propaganda!

Rohan shot a glance at the guard who had hold him back a second ago, but everyone’s attention was focused on the scene inside the hut. No longer denied access, the dragon entered the place as well to get a better look, and strained his ears.

The leader got hold of the parchment as examined it for a while, before whispering in wonder: "It's a map that leads from where we are to somewhere. ... Well, it could be a trap..."

‘Propaganda is a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes. So, what do they hope to gain? And for what purpose did they put a map there? They should have other ways to contact their own members or to lead new ones to their cause…’ – Rohan stopped his chain of thought, hoping he hadn’t said it out loud with everyone listening.

He was still immersed in his thoughts when the leaders question snapped him out of him. She was asking about his opinion on the matter. Rohan drew a deep breath, and got a step closer to the throne

“What worries me, your highness, is that we are possibly looking at bait.” Then he knitted his brows.

“Bait. A trap. Or maybe a diversion. At the other hand, it could also be a tool to contact their own members or to lead new ones to their cause. But trap or diversion or something else, it's so obvious no one could be taken in by it.”

Rohan’s bad habit started to show now; whenever he got immersed in a certain thought, he would fall into a chunter, going through any possible alternative behind a matter.

“Unless they do not care whether whoever found this saw the trap or not.” Uncertainty tinged Rohan’s voice.

“Or perhaps they meant it to be so obvious that whoever found it would dismiss it as their meeting point immediately.”

The dragon sighed. He wished that that group could be as sure of themselves as that, it would make things so much easier. He realized he was once again holding a monolog and pulled himself together.

“Perhaps they meant to taunt whoever found it,” he said softly. “Perhaps they thought whoever found this would rush headlong after them, in anger and pride. But it does not matter. If it is not a diversion, it is a trap.”

Rohan smiled grimly.

“The best way to catch whoever set a trap is to spring it and wait for him to come.”


Day 5 - Assignment

The messenger was dismissed after the leader somewhat considered and (maybe) agreed with Rohan’s statements. He dragon was unsure about what to do next and waited on the side line while the harpy’s leader gave her orders to the nearest guards. The gathering then dispersed, leaving the dragon as the main focus of the leader’s glances.

"Prepare yourself, you're going with them."

By the tone of her voice, Rohan had no say in the matter. So, the dragon was about to take part in the springing of the trap. But he wouldn’t be doing it all on his own. Some harpy guards were going to accompany him on the trip and Rohan had some mixed feelings about that. If not for raiding the camp, they surely got the instruction to keep a close eye on him as well. The dragon sighed. As long as they’d prove themselves to be useful and were not going to stab him in the back while on the road, he could live with the assignment. Actually, Rohan was grateful for the company.

He faced one of the guards approaching him; nodding his approval and a greeting.

“It is a pleasure meeting all of you. However, I would have preferred it to be under better circumstances. Nonetheless, I will be in your care then.

“What time are we setting off?”


Day 6 -The village in the bamboo forest

The harpy’s leader had kept the group at a manageable size in order not to draw too much attention. Each selected harpy seemed to have the required skills for the task at hand and Rohan only hoped nothing bad was going to happen so the expedition would turn into a success. And not in another war between dragon- and beastkin.

Rohan and the armed Harpies arrived at a dense bamboo forest as they approached their final destination. A clearing opened before them and they entered a small, charming village. It was a peaceful place, the dragons all seemed to be going about their day and at first glance nothing pointed towards this being a radical group camp.

The moment the villagers noticed the new arrivals everything fell silent. Truth to be told, the armed Harpies with their readied weapons might not give off the most trustworthily feeling. A young, unarmed harpy nervously unrolled a parchment and explained the situation to the villagers.

"We'd like to talk to whoever knows about an explosion in a Harpy camp.” The young ones voice slightly wavers and the dragons in the immediate area reacted to it immediately.

"How are you so sure that it was us?" One of the dragons furiously bellowed. It was then, Rohan started to get restless. While the question was a legitimate one, the one asking was rather quick at denying any kind of involvement or knowledge about the matter, even steering an uproar that involved all the other dragons. In the end, one of the dragons pointed his claw at Rohan, accusing him of being involved rather then the villagers.

It bothered Rohan. Something about the first reaction the dragons had after hearing the cause of their arrival at their village. The Skydancer stepped forward.

“They call me Rohan. I indeed was invited to the festival and therefore present during the explosion. We are currently looking into a piece of information we were able to achieve. It led us to your camp and while we do not accuse you of any involvement in the matter, we do hope the head-dragon of this village would offer their support.

“Please, let me exhaust all possibilities for you. First. If, like one of you mentioned, I am involved in the attack at the festival, I would do anything to ruin this conversation and to cause another war between the involved parties. Currently, my intentions are none of the sorts and I kindly ask for your cooperation as well.

“Second. You all might have misunderstood our first request. We were only looking to acquire information and not to accuse any of you of anything. The map we found brought us to your village, but it does not mean the people we are looking for are currently here as well. We believe, a radical grouping might be using this place for recruitment behind the scenes. If so, our help in tracking them down before the whole village gets involved in their gruesome activities should be to your benefit as well.

“Finally, at this would be the most unpleasant outcome for all of us. You all are indeed part of the radical grouping we are looking for and therefore would have no interest in supporting our group in revealing the truth. Or even upholding the peace.

“None of us is here to start another war! We are simply asking for your aid, so the responsible ones for breaking the peace and hurting many innocent ones could be brought to justice.”


Day 7 -The hourglass tattoo

An uproar--louder than the one before--went through the present dragons. At the same moment a yellow Tundra with an hourglass tattoo stepped out of one of the huts right in front of Rohan. She somewhat had a queenly demeanor to her and surely, the other villagers calmed down the second she entered the situation, dipping themselves into low bows. However that dragon was, she surely held an important position among them.

“Empress.”—One of the dragons announced. Rohan became aware of the light green eyes running along her body, each of them looking around in different directions. It was actually the first time the dragon had ever meet someone blessed with Multi-Gaze, other than the young hatchling that was recently born into his home clan. It gave him the chills but at the same time, Rohan was mesmerized by it. What might that dragon actually be seeing that’d be a mystery to everyone else?

“A recruit? No, a volunteer for that festival. I’ve heard much about you.”—While Rohan had no idea if the Tundra really ‘heard’ about him, or if she had other means to ‘look’ at him, he wasn’t sure if he should feel flattered by her words or better turn and run the other way. He wasn’t able to evaluate the position he was in at all.

Suddenly, a dagger appeared in the Tundra’s front claws and a sinister grin appeared on her face as well. The dragons as well had a certain glow in their eyes and had readied their blades and swords. Every single one of them had the same hourglass tattoo on their right shoulders, Rohan just noticed.

“These Harpies are watching you rather closely. You’ve done something bad to them, haven’t you? I’ll teach you something, dear. Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is to get to the root and destroy it.”

Rohan tilted his head. He had no idea what that dragon was talking about. What was it he had done to the harpies? Wasn’t he here to find out about the real culprit behind the attack? And by the look at the scene right in front of them, wasn’t he able to trip the trap beautifully?

“Well, I have no idea what you are talking about. Whatever you think you know about me, I do not recall doing something bad to these Harpies. But I think, we were able to get a step clouser at find out who really was behind the bombing at the festival. Were we not, dear empress? Looks like, we did found the root of our problem after all…”

---

---

---