Dover

My Dark Lady

Dedicated to serve she first protected her sister and now her very own clan. She's interested in smithing her own weapons, but with no blacksmith in the clan yet she just visits Faith's shop to see if she can use her tools.

My serious warrior, Dover. She is normally very quiet, but when she sees someone that impresses her she'll follow them like a puppy. She'd want to know more about their journeys as warriors. Based on their descriptions she'd proudly follow Yukro and Maximus into war. She has the tendency to look down on you if aren't a fighting type of dragon. She has a soft spot for Gabriela though because she truly believes there is potential in her and often encourages her when she's down.

They were born in the same clutch, but the clutch was made up of a bunch of randomly found eggs. They were taken care of by an old pearlcatcher brood mother. She was a kind old lady that let them develop freely, which would explain why they turned out so differently. They were the only female imperial dragons in that ragtag clutch so they grew up like sisters and can't stand being apart for too long. Dover would get more easily irritated and Gabriela would get seclusive and nervous.





19-3-2019
Dover arrived at the inn with Gabriela. She had wanted to pave her own way out of the woods, but her sister convinced her otherwise. They ended up walking up to the inn's entrance together. They stumbled upon a Skydancer, there.

"Oh- I wasn't expecting anyone at this time of the day. Are you lost?"

Dover let Gabriela explain their situation to the Skydancer.

"Is that so? Well, you should come in! Our inn provides dragons who're lost in the woods a place to stay while the mist in the woods clear up! Please, follow me- I'll be more than happy to show you around and get you settled in!"

20-3-2019
Dover decided that the inn was a weird place. There were dragons of all ages and sizes around the inn, but they seemed content enough despite the lack of organization. For the meantime, Dover had kept her distance with the other dragons at the inn, and allowed Gabriela to drag her around to different locations. The other Imperial seemed constantly intrigued by the walls and floors of the inn, for reasons Dover wasn't too sure about, but she was happy enough that she got to stay with her sister.

21-3-2019
Dover followed her sister into the inn's Healing Ward, where the Skydancer there promptly mistook them for potential patients. Dover allowed her sister to explain their situation. Their conversation wasn't really of any particular interest, until Gabriela had asked the healer about the strange glimmer that danced around the inn.

"Oh... I'm afraid you'll have to ask for Lady Lana if you want to learn more about the charms she had placed on the walls; I've tried looking into it myself, you see, but Lady Lana's a lot more sophisticated a magic user than I am. I'm sure she'll tell you all about it if you asked her nicely."

Dover, knowing her sister, was prepared when the other imperial suggested they look for this "Lana" character.

22-3-2019
Dover and Gabriela were approached by a male Guardian while the two of them were in the inn's garden. He was observing them carefully.

"Excuse me... Are you looking for Lana, by any chance?"

Well... Gabriela was.

"I see. Well, I would suggest looking for her in the inn's archive. She's always quite invested in the books there."

Dover's sister thanked the Guardian and went off in search for the inn's archive. Dover followed her, though the Imperial couldn't help but notice the scars slightly hidden underneath the Guardian's shroud. Briefly, Dover had wondered how he had gotten them, but she didn't want to just leave her sister alone right now. He seemed like one of the caretakers of the inn. She could always find him and ask the guardian about it afterwards.

23-3-2019
The two Imperials found the Inn Keeper soon enough, and Dover was immediately weary of her. The Guardian had done nothing wrong to slight her, persey, but there was something something with how the Guardian watched them that had made her suspicious.

Gabriela seemed to suspect nothing, though, and the other Imperial proceeded to ask the Inn Keeper about the strange enchantments.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it? Just a simple trick that allows object to keep their properties, even after their supposed expired time.”

Dover still wasn’t sure how to think about that.

24-3-2019
Gabriela seemed to have left early that morning, though Dover supposed that was okay. It had been some time since their arrival at the inn, and the Imperial could not sense anything that would potentially be a harm to them; Sure, some of the dragons in the inn were weird, strange creatures, but they did not appear aggressive, and Dover could acknowledge that.

Being alone wasn’t all bad, however; Dover recalled the mysterious Guardian dragon she had seen while she was following Gabriela in search for the Inn Keeper. Dover had kept note of his scars, and was quite curious of how the dragon had gotten them- A mark of valor in battle, perhaps?

Well, she wouldn’t know just wondering about. Dover left and walked about the inn in search of the dragon.

25-3-2019
It took her a while, but Dover did manage to find the other Guardian dragon that she saw wandering the inn several days ago. The imperial was confused by the hatchlings that were trailing after him; She hadn’t noticed that there were hatchlings in the inn.

“Oh, hello again. You do need anything?”

Dover shook her head no. She had just wanted to introduce herself to the other dragon… And, maybe ask about the hatchlings that seemed to be following him about. Yukro just seemed amused by her bafflement of the appearance of hatchlings in the inn.

“Dover, is it? You can call me Yukro. And, as for the hatchlings… Well, someone has to take care of the hatchlings and make sure they don’t get into too much trouble. Heh…”

Dover pursed her lips. The imperial knew that she was not wrong- She knew she had saw the battle scars on the Guardian’s body. The Guardian must have some involvement- either directly or indirectly- with combat and war. Even if the Guardian seemed content to look after the hatchlings in the inn, she still wanted to know what the Guardian was like before that.

26-3-2019
Dover managed to catch the Guardian as he was leaving the nursery, where all the hatchlings in the inn seemed to congregate. The imperial briefly considered her words, before deciding on a simple comment of how well Yukro seemed to be handling the hatchlings. She did not want to appear overly zealous… Yet. The Guardian did not seem to mind the comment.

“It’s a bit of a contrast to what I used to do, but I do not mind.”

Ah. There was her opening. Dover made a quick comment about how she was unaware of the Guardian having any prior career, even though the Imperial had fully suspected that Yukro had to be involved in a war of some sort.

“It was a more… chaotic part of my life. I’m quite alright with the peacefulness now.”

Interesting. Dover definitely wanted to know what that “chaotic” part of Yukro’s life ensued now.

27-3-2019
Dover did her best to ignore the play fights of the hatchlings; It wasn’t as if she hated them. She was just rather indifferent towards them. That, and she really wanted to know more about Yukro’s supposed past as a warrior before he ended up becoming protector of the inn.

“...You want to know about what I used to do…? It’s really not as glamorous as many dragons make them out to be…”

Dover didn’t mind! She still wanted to know- Was it a war between clans? Or a scuffle between different groups of dragons? An all out battle-royale? Dover wanted to hear about it, regardless. Yukro appeared conflicted, for some reason.

“Well, if you really want to know, I suppose I can tell you. I’m afraid it would have to wait until the hatchlings are asleep though. Perhaps you can come by later?”

28-3-2019
Dover headed back to the nursery late at night. She waited for Yukro to coax the last of the hatchlings to sleep before approaching him, more curious than ever.

“If you must know, I used to be a war tactician before my time at the inn. I was needed at the frontlines sometimes, but I mostly provided the general of my clan insights and strategies they could use during the war.”

Hm… A war tactician wasn’t something Dover was expecting, but at least that meant Yukro was knowledgeable about strategies in warfare, right?

“It was quite daunting at times, considering the scale of the war. Three whole clans were involved in the conflict. With one of the clans being as powerful as it was, the clan leaders of my clan had decided to ally themselves with the third clan… You can imagine, the dragons of our two clans live in constant state of intrigue during the alliance.”

A story about a war between three clans? This was something Dover was interested in listening to...

29-3-2019
It seemed that Yukro’s clan had been losing ground quicker than they were gaining it when they decided to ally with the third clan involved in the war; Though there was a supposed alliance, the three clans were indeed fighting against each other for dominance and control over a land both strategically advantageous and rife with natural resources. From what Yukro was telling her, it seemed that the alliance was really a short term solution for the two smaller clan’s survival when up against the third and larger clan.

“While the war waged on at the frontlines, however… I knew if and when the third clan fell, it would mean the end of our alliance. Sooner or later, it would be our troops against theirs. Which is why I began plotting of a way our clan could minimize our casualties when the inevitable happens… In the end, I decided that the best way to throw our allied clan into disarray when that time comes is to plot the death of their head tactician.”

Hm… Killing someone when their back was turned didn’t sound very honorable, but Dover supposed it was something that just happened in wars. Though, the Imperial couldn’t help but wonder if Yukro’s sudden change in occupation had anything to do with this intrigue.

30-3-2019
Dover didn’t know what she was expecting when Yukro began his tale of one of his- if not the most- infuriating experiences working as a war tactician. The Guardian’s story revolved around a Guardian female the Dover realized, a bit belatedly, was in fact the Inn Keeper, Lana.

Yukro’s plan was quite simple; The Guardian would ask his general to give the other Guardian an impossible order- Preparing sufficient armaments for both their armies combined over the course of three days, to name one- and the other dragon would have little choice but to obey the order and fulfill the request. Should she fail, then their general would appear to have a legitimate reason to… discharge her from her position.

“Alas… If that plan had succeeded, we would not be here, talking about this today, would we? As it turns out, Lana had several unforseen tricks up her sleeve. As skilled with illusions and spells of magic that she is, I can imagine her triumph over these impossible tasks more or less have something to do with them.”

Yukro’s brief comment about Lana’s mastery over magic and tricks of illusion did get Dover’s attention, though- She knew Gabriela was quite interested in such spells as well. She wondered if there was any chance Gabriela could use her illusions in combat… She didn’t know much about the magic the other Imperial used, but after hearing Yukro’s story about Lana using the very same tricks to overcome impossible feats, Dover supposed that it would be interesting, at the very least.

31-3-2019
Dover couldn’t help but notice that Yukro appeared to be a bit troubled today. Concerned, the imperial asked him if anything was wrong.

“No, I don’t suppose so. It’s not anything serious, but Lana’s writing to me about something in the woods surrounding the inn… It doesn’t appear that she knows what it was, and she’s asking me to go check it out.”

A strange creature lingering around the inn? That sounds dangerous. Dover offers to help.

“Thank you. There’s still some things that I need to take care of, but we should look for whatever’s causing the disturbance near the inn. Meet me at the inn’s entrance tomorrow. We’ll search the area around the building then.”

1-4-2019
After leaving the hatchlings in the care of another dragon, Yukro led Dover from the inn in search for whatever it was that was disturbing the woods surrounding the inn. The Imperial kept an eye out, but stayed close- Yukro had made it clear that they were not to stray too far away from the inn, as the trees in Starwood Strand would start to play tricks on their mind if they wander too far into the woods. The two dragons circled the inn several times, but their search yielded little results.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything here… Perhaps Lana had been mistaken.”

Dover furrowed her brows. Perhaps the Guardian was right, but she didn’t want to return to the inn so soon. She had been hoping for some sort of action when they left, and didn’t want to leave empty handed. The Imperial insisted on one last look around the inn, just to make sure. Yukro obliged.

2-4-2019
Dover didn’t show it, but the Imperial was getting increasingly annoyed with the lack of results from their search. Surely, there had to be something around the inn- It just happened to be really well hidden, right?

“...Hm? I never noticed that patch of opening before…”

The Imperial looked to where Yukro was motioning towards and, yes, the strange opening where the soft rays of light were beaming in through the trees did seem rather suspicious, considering the trees pretty much blocked all of the sunlight from the surrounding areas.

Deciding that she would investigate, Dover trotted over to where the opening was... Only to have a giant Abyss Striker pounce upon her the instant she got near.

3-4-2019
Dover reacted on instinct; She struck the monster hard and fast with a solid kick, though when her first strike had hit its mark, her second attack fell through the Abyss Striker as the creature dissipated into a puff of smoke shortly after the initial contact. Dover was confused for a moment, before Gabriela and the Inn Keeper Lana had emerged from the nearby bushes and explained what had happened; Apparently, the two of them were trying to pull a prank on Yukro… Dover had just been unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. The Imperial shot Yukro a quick look after the explanation.

“...I suppose it makes sense... Lana knows just how much I hate those things… Ugh…”

Dover was upset about that- and understandably so. Lana must have took notice of her displeasure, as the Guardian offered her apologies and a gift for getting her caught up in the prank instead.

Dover received a gift!


4-4-2019
Realizing that it had been several days since they last spoke, Dover decided to ask Gabriela what she had been up to during the last several days.

As it turns out, the other Imperial had been spending quite the while with the Inn Keeper. Apparently, Lana was one for trickery and illusions as well, and the two dragons had hit it off quite well because of that. That would certainly explain the prank that Dover had ended up wandering unwittingly into…

Dover wasn’t angry, but she was still a little upset about that. The Abyss Striker had looked so real, and it had managed to startle her… Just a little.

Well… Gabriela seemed to be enjoying herself so far, so at least that was a positive.

5-4-2019
Dover spent the next day with Gabriela, the two Imperial dragons making themselves comfortable underneath the small willow tree in the center of the inn. Gabriela seemed quite eager to show Dove all of the little tricks and spells she’d picked up during her stay so far, though she was also curious as to what Dover had been up to while she was in the inn’s archives with the Inn Keeper.

Dover didn’t mind telling Gabriela about what she had learnt about Yukro’s past; About how the Guardian used to be a war tactician before becoming one of the caretakers of the inn, about the war between the three clans, and how she had met Lana in the midst of it all.

Somewhere during the middle of the tale, Dover realized the whole story sounded a little sappy, like a badly-written love story, but it was what Yukro had told her, and it wasn’t as if she could change it now. Oh, well.

6-4-2019
While the two dragons were talking, Dover brought up the fact that she and Gabriela had been at the inn for quite some time now. It wasn’t as if the two of them could just leave- The illusions of the woods would leave them completely lost, but Dover couldn’t say she was quite fond of the idea of staying at the inn indefinitely. There had to be some way they could tell when it was safe for them to leave.

The Imperial made a mental note to ask about it when she saw Yukro or Lana the next time. It couldn’t hurt to at least know.

7-4-2019
Dover went in search for the two caretakers of the inn that she knew of. Fortunately, she quickly found the two Guardian dragons near the inn’s entrance, though both Yukro and Lana seemed… distracted, by something in the distance. Curious, Dover asked them if anything was wrong.

“No… Quite the contrary, actually- The illusion of the woods is fading. Your path is cleared now.”

Dover caught on to what Yukro was hinting at quickly- Now that they won’t be affected by the illusions of Starwood Strand, they can safely leave the inn and make their way home!

“I quite enjoyed the conversations we had during you stay, Dover. Please take this as my parting gift to you. I wish you and your sister all the best.”

Dover thanked the Guardian quickly as she accepted his gift and quickly turned back towards the entrance of the inn. Taking Gabriela’s hand, the two Imperials made their way past the front gates of the inn. As the continued onwards, the leaves above them appeared to shimmer ominously, but Dover paid it no mind. She was solely focused on finding their way out of the woods.

Moments later, the two of them managed to stumble out from Starwood Strand, and Dover let out a sigh of relief. Now, all they had to do was gain their bearings. After that, they should have no trouble returning home.