NocturnistheDark » Hibernal Den » Taruskith

Taruskith

(#32315203)

Level 3 Skydancer

Familiar

Animated Statue

Energy: 50/50

Personal Style

Apparel

Skin

Scene

Physical Attributes

Battle Stats

Measurements

Length

4.94 m

Wingspan

5.3 m

Weight

595.06 kg

Genetics

Shadow
Cherub

Jade
Toxin

Navy
Underbelly

Hatchday

Apr 15, 2017
(7 years)

Breed

Adult
Skydancer

Eye Type

Shadow
Common

Level 3 Skydancer

EXP: 1175 / 1401

STR

AGI

DEF

QCK

INT

VIT

MND

Lineage

Parents

Offspring

Biography

Taruskith is a tricksy dragon, but he quickly became bored of tricking the same dragons all the time. And so his journey began!

TRAVELLING DRAGON

Breed: SkyDancer
Gender:Male
Dam: Jek
Sire: GrowlFall
Hatch Date: Sunday 6:35 AM 16 April 2017 (-19 hours if you want the FR server time!)
Element: Shadow
Grew up in: Shadow Flight
Visited Lairs:

CLAN OF CLW23
4:55 5/29/17 on fr time- Taruskith woke up to find himself in a place where pink jagged rocks stood everywhere. An ice and pink fae stood next to him.
"Welcome" she said. "Welcome to clw23's den. I hope you enjoy your stay. you arrived last night and I hope you have found your den to be comfortable. up here in the Crystalspine Reaches."
5:03 5/29/17 on fr time- after Irielle was done showing him around, Taruskith decided to meet some of the dragons of the clan. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Taruskith found a young coatl with all twilight sylvan apparel. He grabbed an eye thing he found in the apparel vault and put it on her. The coatl didn't even notice!
5:12 529/17 after a bit of planning, Taruskith decided to screw up everyone's apparel- after all they seemed to tired to care anyway...
He switched Demeter's green scarf for a black striped one he had found in his apparel vault.
He switched Mariposa's and Kaliis's hats.
He put the green scarf Demeter wore onto Phoenix
He took Icequeen's teal tail bow off and put it on Sonnai.
He switched some apparel from fearful and Rurieyl
Feeling confident, he approached a male white skydancer. He reached for his sword with a smile on his face.
"Hey!" the dragon swung back in a sudden motion. He hissed loudly. "Trying to cause mischief? Once a thief, always know the strategies of a thief. To be honest though... this clan is truly boring... now go back to your den... Or I'm telling Irielle."
End of entry

When Taruskith arrived at the Clan of the Great Family, he was quite surprised by the welcome he received. A coatl with a bugle played a tune and a lot of armored guardians and imperials lined up in two rows before this huge tree, out of a large opening in the trunk, up above their heads a Beautiful female and male fae descended to the mossy ground at the base of the tree, all the dragons present bowed their heads for a moment and rose as one saying "Greetings Arwen, our wise leader and to HaKuroh, revered consort."

Taruskith let out a breath he'd been holding, whew, it was a reception line! In his mischievous path when he's had groups of soldiers line up inn two rows before he, it usually meant he was about to receive a most-serious beat-down. This was much, much better.

After being greeted by the Queen Arwen (who several different dragons whispered to him to "never call her that to her face, it pi$$es her off) and her royal consort, he enjoyed a massive feast prepared by the clans chefs and their bevy of apprentices. Sitting around the campfire while a band of coatls played instruments and a bard tundra and couple of female imperials and skydancers sang, he was approached by male two skydancers by the names of Damon and Niko who told him they lived in the single males barracks of the main lair and he would bunk with them for his stay. He grinned inwardly, thinking of the mischief he could do.

Once they'd entered into the large cavern where the single males bunked, which wound around the mountain deeply, splitting off into numerous corridors with glittery walls and soft moss interspersed with hard limestone on the ground, they led Taruskith to an alcove where they slept. There were 4 soft beds of what looked like dried moss peeking out from the bottom piled over with wolfskins, many of them. This was obviously a well-to-do clan.

Oh, he was going to have so much fun messing with them!

He feigned sleep before the others lay down so he could eavesdrop and see where they put their valuables. He was pretty impressed to see them pull formerly water-logged chests out from what appeared to be a smooth rock wall. They put their valuables in them, as well as their weapons and some baubles he didn't even know what they were. Oh, he was going to have fun, he thought. "I'll take them and hide them well and them beat feet outta here."

After the others had fallen asleep, Taruskith had very quietly made his way over to the wall where the chests were hidden and was frantically trying to ascertain how in the WORLD to access the chests when he couldn't get them to come out. Finally, touching the same place he'd tried a dozen times before he heard a mechanical "whoosh and two floor-to-MASSIVE ceiling panels started to open and Taruskith lost his courage and almost his supper, when from out of those panels, screeching a Guardian War Cry and each waving a massive sword, appeared these two dragons.

A terrified Taruskith jumped up and screamed because that was one big GUARDIAN and he and the skydancer both had glowing SHADOW eyes, and Taruskith well knew, as a shadow dragon himself, what the glowing eyes meant- they were MAD. He quickly turned around to flee only to be startled as the battle cry was repeated from 4 dragons, including the two he was bunking with, who were right behind him now, shrieking!

When everyone had stopped screaming except Taruskith, the others took mercy on him, except Chevalier, the guardian, because he was still laughing. On the floor, curled into an enormous ball. The shadow skydancer who had come into the room through the panel, raised a hand to Taruskith's shoulder and said, "Calm down. We aren't REALLY going to kill you. But you can't pull your tricks in Queen Arwen's clan."
Taruskith started, "I did not, I would nev-"
He was cut of abruptly by the Guardian with, "Not a word. Do not even try. We have a network of eyes all over our domain with connections in most of the other flight's territories. Do you honestly think your little habits were unknown to us? Now, you have had your belly filled and your plan spoiled, would you rather be on your way now with a full kit of rations for a week, courtesy of our Lady Arwen's unrelenting generosity, a new bedroll- yours looks like a dead wolf of a month and smells like a dead grey river flight, a waterskin, and well wishes, or would you prefer to spend the night and then be on your way?"

As Taruskith began to smile and open his mouth to answer, Chevalier cut him off, "Of course, if you choose so, you forfeit the goodwill gifts and you will be spending the night in the stockade."

As the smile left both his eyes and face, Taruskith looked up and said quietly, "Goodbye"

Chevalier's smile was grim as he said, "Bon Voyage."

Outfit

Echosong Clan (@MeowsicDragoness)

Taruskith blinked his eyes at the green... so much green! Why was everything green? Green ground, green leaves, green trees, green everything. It was just so... bright. Where were the shadows? Where was the darkness? Well, too bad, he told himself. He softly treaded through the bushes and the mossy ground, looking for a familiar face. Suddenly a purple nocturne's face popped into view.
"Hello!" she yelled. Taruskith, surprised beyond reason, replied with a knowledgable shriek two octaves higher than supposed, flailing backwards and crashing into a thankfully soft bush. Good thing he didn't fall into that rosebush right beside it.
The nocturne, on the other hand, fell backwards as well, laughing hysterically. Taruskith soon recognized her.
"Ilokum," he sighed. With a grin on her face, Ilokum nodded.
"That was for last time when you made me hallucinate about butterflies. Welcome to our clan! Everyone will do everything we can to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Well, except me. I'll be making sure your stay is as horrible as can be! Well, follow me." She winged off through the trees, swinging on the vines. Taruskith sighed. That was sooo reassuring. He followed her, with nothing else to do.

He came across the first trap right away. Stepping onto a path, he yelped and raised his foot to find a baby janustrap hanging off his foot, still attempting tenaciously to bite the toe off. He flicked it off with a grumble. Over the time they travelled, he encountered a strangling vine, a mud pit that left him grumbling and dripping wet, then a pile of leaves that stuck to the mud, a tree of heaven (noxious smell, really), and finally a dousing in ice water that left him cold yet clean. He arrived at the clan dripping wet with mud oozing between his scales.

Amazon stepped out of the clan to greet him.
"Welcome, Taruskith. I see Ilokum has been... having some fun. Come with me." She turned and walked off into the lichen curtain, disappearing. Taruskith quickly followed, noting places to prank others.
"Taruskith, we know you have been executing some of the more lethal tricks lately. We will ask you to put those aside so as to avoid harming out hatchlings and dragons. I'll tell you that Ilokum is quite the trickster herself and is mostly smarting at your beating her." Amazon turned to another curtain of moss. "This will be your den." She entered and he followed just as before.
Inside was a spacious area, seemingly built just for him. It was devoid of the many colors in Nature and was dark and comforting, just like his home. A few dim candles lit the room if he needed them, and he could see a stone slab covered with an angelically soft moss mattress, shelves dug into the walls (perfect for his trickster plans!) and a desk by the door. He smiled at Amazon.
"Thank you for arranging this lair for me!" She dipped her head in acceptance of his gratitude and backed out.

As soon as Amazon's footsteps were out of range for him to hear, Taruskith quickly rolled out a piece of parchment listing multiple pranks he needed to do. "Time for my favorite word: mischief!"
On Sunday he rested. The real fun began on Monday. He spent the night silently running around the everbloom gardens and depositing collected materials in dragons' doorways. As he lay happily on his moss bed, he heard the sound of disgusted dragons stepping on rotting food, music to his ears. Ilokum got him back for that when he woke on Tuesday to a lobster pinching him on the nose. He swore he could hear her giggling outside as he shrieked, jumping around in a very undignified manner, and pulled the lobster off.

More happened as the days passed. After his lobster problem was solved, he set out to flatten himself against the ceiling above the entrance to the clan, tangling himself on the moss slowly growing. As Aurora, a blue pearlcatcher, entered, Taruskith swung down wearing a 'borrowed' wolf cape he had swiped from the last lair-- he did plan to return it, after all-- and scared her half to death. On Wednesday, Ilokum whispered ideas of pranks into his ear as he woke. They spent the day switching dragon's apparel before they woke, save for Pyro and Amazon. Liani, who was already awake, caught them at trying to get at her bow and arrow, showing them exactly what she did to her prey. They escaped in the nick of time, but doubled over laughing after they got to Taruskith's room. Thursday and Friday was spent dumping mud on random dragons, switching the types of food points the dragons got, trying to switch Tourmaline's food to insects (and failing miserably with scratch marks on their sides), and telling the hatchlings nice, orthodox stories with Oneiro after a day's hard work. At night they feasted to Taruskith. Amazon stood, calling for attention.
"This week has certainly been an exciting week due to Taruskith's routinely pranks. He has upheld his promise for only nonlethal tricks from the moment he entered the clan. It is now time for him to return home and bring his tricks to someone else. Let us feast to him." The clan clapped. One dragon, presumably Tui, started to chatter unstoppably and ran up in a blur of blue and purple to hug him along with pretty much every hatchling. They darted away as soon as they came.
After the night came and the moon's light washed over the myriads of leaves, The clan gathered in the entrance hall to wish Taruskith farewell. He made his way back to his clan with full rations and a big smile on his face.
Until he remembered that he had forgotten to give something back while he was already four fifths of the way there and groaned so loudly the entire kingdom of Sornieth could hear him.

On his way home, he took a quick "detour"

The Guild of the Amethyst Spring (SpellbinderNova's Clan)
Taruskith found himself wandering through the Crystalspine Reaches when a pink spiral nearly collided with him mid-air. He froze as she barely managed to swerve out of his way. The spiral turned to apologize before introducing herself as Patience. Taruskith was about to give his name when he was interrupted by a growl from his stomach.
“Sounds like someone could use something to eat,” Patience said with a smirk. “My clan has plenty of food if you’d like to follow me.”
Taruskith did so, seeing this as a great opportunity to cause more mischief. He told Patience stories of his travels as he followed her, to which she seemed rather amused. When they arrived, Taruskith was stopped by a mirror and an imperial. The mirror would have seemed intimidating had he not been standing next to a dragon three times his size. Though Patience had told them he was a guest, they continued to guard the clan from him as she flew off. She returned moments later, following behind a fae and a mirror, who seemed to be the leaders of this clan.
“I am Orion, and this is Eos. We welcome you to the Guild of the Amethyst Spring,” Said the fae, who, as if to make up for how small he was, hovered far above Taruskith. Eos gestured for the guards to move, and as they did, they revealed a small body of purple, bubbling water, around which many dragons seemed to be performing their daily tasks; an imperial and a nocturne sorted various herbs, a pearlcatcher frantically scribbled on a notepad, clearly very focused on her task, and a couple of faes practiced their magic in a mock-duel. “Our most qualified dragons are currently preparing a feast,” said Orion. “If you plan on staying for the night, you may sleep in Pandora’s den,” He nodded towards a purple tundra, who seemed preoccupied with chasing a rosetail caiman that had gotten loose. “Feel free to stay as long as you wish.”
Taruskith spent most of the day searching for the next victims of his pranks. Before the feast, he found a pearlcatcher preparing tea. When his back was turned, Taruskith replaced the sugar on the tray with salt. He later watched the faces of the dragons around him instantly twist in disgust as salt unexpectedly hit their tongues.
He stayed with the Guild of the Amethyst Spring for a week, catching many dragons off guard while doing so. He pulled the classic prank of lining one’s goggles with ink, revealing dark circles around Cassiopeia’s eyes when she removed them. He stuffed Ophiuchus’ instruments with pebbles before a show, giving the audience a bit of a chuckle. He also added ingredients to Alula’s brews, resulting in them turning out much different than expected. He managed to ruin four of her experiments before she finally caught onto him. He left the guild feeling accomplished. While some dragons were glad to say goodbye to his pranks, most of them would miss his mischief.

I flew many, many miles until the Starfall Isles were but a memory on the horizon. I traveled through many barred lands and dark woods until I found myself in the bright lands of the Sunbeam Ruins.

It just so happened that the first Clan I bumped into was DeliciousBlood's.

They were so welcoming that I almost felt bad about the mischief I was planning.

Almost.

The first few days of my stay I spent planning. Concocting pranks from the most simple, to the most extravagant. (Although those never left the planning stage.)

I did run into a common problem though. It seemed like everything was prank proofed.

There was no way to gather supplies to build a complex prank, as every spare tool or part was put up in someone's den, and there was no way to do a quick, simple one as it seemed everyone had eyes on the back of their skulls.

Stumped and defeated, I sat on the edge of the Clan watching the hustle and bustle of the daily activities.

"I heard that there was a new face in the Clan." A feminine voice had spoken behind me.

Turning, I saw a Kitsune. Mind you, I had never actually met a Kitsune before, but during my travels I had heard plenty of stories about them to know that the fox-like creature with 8 tails that stood before me was one of them.

Ohhhh...

That's why they watch everything.

The rest of the week was spent with the Kitsune, whose name turned out to be Rabendā, trying to outsmart the Clan.

Most turned out unsuccessful, but there was one memorable moment where we were able to tar and feather an Wildclaw named DawnStrike. Wasn't the best idea, as we then had to run for our lives to escape her wrath.

My day of leaving approached quicker than a blink of my eye. I was actually sad to say goodbye.

But as the Clan Leader had said, "You won't miss us as much as you would miss adventure if you stayed."

That is true. So very true.

So off I flew.

To find my next adventure.

Kingdom of Ourobous

Taruskith found himself staying within the orbit of the Sunbeam Ruins. It's hard to leave such a place, where the sun dyes the grass golden, and the land itself seems to sing so pure and untainted. Taruskith couldn't help but want to mess with it, or at least find a place where the sun doesn't seem to hit so beautifully. He was from the Tangled Woods after all, it was always odd to him how two place so close could be so different. The stairs to the Tangled woods were close by, and he found it hard to believe that an area so near to the forest of tricksters could remain pure. But he never quite made it.

Instead he found himself by the river, right outside Hewn City, in the Kingdom of Ourobous. Once he arrived in town he could help but stare at the castle that stood so high and glimmered gorgeously in the sunlight. It seemed to bless the lands itself with the presence of the Lightweaver with how it glowed. Yet, when Taruskith could only see it from the corner of his eye, it seemed looming and dangerous.

He didn't know how to feel about that, so he choose, very carefully, to ignore it. Instead he decided to do what he did best.

The first few tricks went off flawlessly. The flower-shop's flowers kept moving around and messing with the labels, and in a certain corner of the city a voice will whisper random phrases to whomever passes by, all thanks to his magic. That was just a warm up though. He wanted to go bigger.

So, when he sees the Merchant's cart he can't help but be drawn to it. He starts to enchant the wheels to immediately go entirely too fast, yet before he can finish he feels a hand land on his shoulder.

"Hello," a Guardian who looks like the sea greeted, "What business do you have with my cart?"

"Ah," Taruskith wasn't quite sure what to say, so he just smiled coyly and shrugged. The Guardian didn't seem like a bad guy, maybe it would be ok.

He smiled back, and then a Tropical Caiman seemed to crawl up next to him. For a minute Taruskith wasn't sure what to make of it, he glanced at the Guardian a little uneasily. The man seemed to smile back reassuringly, as he moved to start dismantling the spell Taruskith had been putting on the wheels.

Taruskith couldn't help but a pout a little. "it would of been funny," he said simple. It's not as though it would of hurt anyone. It was just a bit of fun.

"I'm sure it would of," the Guardian spoke. Yet while his entire body portrayed calmness and kindness his voice hinted and concealed anger. Taruskith started to wonder if he should have ran away.

That wonder seemed to double once he felt a sudden motion of being pushed down and his arms being pulled back into magic-containing cuffs. He let out a noise of outcry followed with questionings about his rights.

"Save it," the man who chained him said gruffly, he was a tundra yet his eyes seemed so cold. The merchant just looked at him pleasantly and waved as he was taken away. And suddenly he wondered if he should of left the second he felt as though the Palace wasn't a kind as it first appeared.

His heart rate rapidly increased as he tried to think a way out of his predicament. Yet Sparrow just marched him seemingly quicker and quicker to a black stain area of this bright sun-kissed land. The place seemed impossibly far away from the place he just left. It almost didn't make sense.

He was pulled deep into the tunnels, it felt like a labyrinth to his fear-addled brain. He wished he could of calmed down enough to at least memorize the way out.

"VURAZ" the tundra suddenly yelled, making Taruskith jump a little. He turned his head and saw a happily smiling Guardian, who's eyes seemed to glint with something broken.

"Why in the word do you have cards out?" Sparrow hissed.

Vuraz looked mildly puzzled for a second. He looked from Sparrow to the prisonor he seemed to have been playing cards with. Then he hesitates, "I- I thought it would be obvious?" He glances at his cards and looks up again, "I'm playing poker."

The guy in the cell makes a noise of dismay, "It's Rummy! Stop trying to change the game!"

Sparrow just glared, and the prisoner quickly backed away from the door to his cage. He tsked loudly and just threw Taruskith to Vuraz. "Just, do your job. Lock this thief away" he hissed.

Taruskith sputtered for a second. "Thievery?! I didn't! I would never!! Don't I get a trial or someth-" a blast of magic shot past him. He turned his head to see a laughing Vuraz, his hand seeming to stink of rot. He guy had just try to make his arm decay. Taruskith decided not to speak anymore.

"Come on, you can go in this cell!" Vuraz said happily, as Sparrow just turned and walked away. Taruskith just silently walked into the cold concert room, the air smelt like death. Taruskith knew he had to get out. He just couldn't stay here.

So he sat in the cold cell and thought. He thought of a way out. A few times while he was stuck there the guard Vuraz would pass by and ask if he wanted to play, his eyes always looked a bit crazy and every time Taruskith would warily decline.

Then one day he said he'd like to play, but for a price. The guard only seemed to more excited at the idea of a bet. His grin became almost shark-like in nature and Taruskith couldn't help but think this was a bad idea.

But he pressed forward, and shoved back his doubt. He had a plan after all, it would be fine. At least it should be fine. He looked right in Vuraz's eyes and asked to play a game for his freedom.

Vuraz spoke simply in reply, "Sounds boring. What would I get?"

Taruskith felt his heart sink, "Wh-what would you like?" he stuttered out.

Vuraz just smiled. Taruskith smelt death in the air rather clearly now, Vuraz reached his hand though the bars of Taruskith's cage. His arm was rotting. Taruskith rapidly backtracted until his back hit the wall, the smell was over powering and he could see bone.

Vuraz let out a laugh, "I want to do this," he pointed to his rotting hand, "to your entire body."

Taruskith puked a little in his mouth. He wasn't so sure about this anymore, but he wanted to go home, and something told him if he didn't try to get out, then he would never see the sun again.

He held his breath for a second, horror seemed to grip his throat, seemed to tell him not to do this, tell him that he might lose.

He pushed though and spoke brokenly, "ok."

Vuraz howled with laughter. He looked thrilled, "Then the deal is made," he said with vigor.

Taruskith just hoped he wouldn't regret this. Vuraz pulled out a deck of cards, his hand back to seeming perfectly fine, as though nothing had happened at all. Taruskith inched back to the cage door.

"We'll play Spit," Vuraz spoke. Taruskith could only nod, shock running though his system briefly. Had he not been terrified he might of laughed at the idea of his life being at stake on a game of ******* Spit. He knew the game well enough. Cards and games where common back in his homelands. "It's a quick enough game for you to not realize what you've done and try to run," Vuraz added with a kind smile. Taruskith flinched at that.

The game was quick, just a minute or three but nothing had ever felt longer to Taruskith. He wasn't afraid of the game itself per say but more so that he would get caught. He was cheating of course. He wasn't a fool, he wouldn't bet his life against a man who clearly plays cards everyday. The only way to win was to cheat.

So he cheated.
And he won.
Vuraz just stared at him for awhile, his face completely blank and dead.
Taruskith started to sweat.
Did he know?
What will happen?
Is he going to die?
Be crippled?
This was a mistake.
Oh dear deity.
Shadowbinder please-

Then Vuraz smiled. "A deal is a deal," he hummed. Taruskith almost felt overwhelmed with relief. He didn't let it show though. He couldn't let it show.

Vuraz unlocked the door with a smile, and held out his hand. Taruskith took it cautiously, and Vuraz hoisted him up to his feet, then yanked him out. He locked the cage once Taruskith was out.

"Let's go," he said, and Taruskith had no choice but to trust him.

Fear gripped his every step as he followed Vuraz though the maze of cells, and then he saw the sun. He wanted to cry in relief, he ran out ahead. He could even see the Shadow woods in the far distance, just past Hewn City.

"I suggest you don't come back," Vuraz purred.

Taruskith could only nod and run off. He was most certainly done with that place.

Outfit

Mistakes have been made!
This clan is not safe!
I have been shoved in here in the middle of all out civil war!
The Rebellion has taken me in. I'm leaving in a room in the library. The dragons here are totally insane. They've given me armour and weapons. I feel pretty cool, but it is not okay here. When I walked in, some strange dragon, who had black blood dripping from their eyes, attacked me!
I barely escaped after the Rebellion leader tackled it to the ground and tied it to a dead tree.
A dead tree! In the light realm. I suppose it can't be that bad. These dragons are pretty nice. I was put in a storage room. The cartographer set up a cot for me.
I decided that I was going to mess things up while I was in there. The scrolls were all organized by size, material, and smell(?). I dumped out all the boxes, mixed them up, and tucked them neatly into their boxes. I chuckled and left the room.
The following day, they had a sort of skirmish on the eastern front of the territory, by what seemed to be a dungeon. I, of course, hung back to cause trouble. I pulled every single book off of the shelves and built a tower. My architectural prowess is better than I thought it was.
I found an invisibility cloak! A new world of tricks has been opened up to me! But the pull for travel was too strong, and I soon succumbed to it once more.

Windsoul Clan

After travelling for some days, Taruskith arrived in the Windswept Plateau, a land unlike any he had seen before. He had seen trees, for he grew up in the Tangled Wood, but forests of bamboo were new to him. It was strange, but peaceful, a land full of travellers just like him. Kites of the same material he walked through drifted on the breeze, wings of feathers and fabric allowed them to float like birds. Distracted, he walked right into another Skydancer.
"Woah." He grunted, shaking his head dizzily.
"Who are you?" The other Skydancer demanded, flaring his mottled wings in disgust. "And why are you so familiar?"
Taruskith decided he should go along with this imposing Skydancer, just for safety. "I'm no-one."
The Skydancer sniffed. "Like I'm gonna believe that? I'm sure I know you..." He clicked his claws, his furious expression evaporating at once, replace by one of friendliness. "Oh! It's Taruskith, isn't it? I stayed with your clan for a while when I was journeying."
"Sagittarius." Taruskith smiled. "I was wondering if I would meet a fellow traveller like you here. How's your wandering been?"
"It's gone well so far. I'm leaving tomorrow to go another clan." Sagittarius turned, and leaped into the air. "It's this way to my lair."
With no other option, Taruskith decided to follow him.

They came into a vast clearing on the edge of the wind territory, where the land met the Sea of a Thousand Currents. It was paved with flat, grey river stones, surrounded on all sides by a thick forest of bamboo. Young dragons played around puddles of rain water, splashing each other, laughing as they did so.
"Astrid! Evinetha! Come away from there at once!" Sagittarius growled.
"What's wrong with a few dragons having some fun?" Taruskith asked coolly.
Sagittarius sniffed. "Just a water shortage. We can't waste a drop."
Taruskith laughed and attempted to crack a joke. "Where you live?"
Sagittarius just glared at him. "That's salt water."
Sagittarius led Taruskith up a set of rough stone steps to a large cave. "Everyone sleeps in here." He said. "The males, females, leaders, everyone. We're all equals in our clan. We have Ashy, but she's not really royalty or anything."
Taruskith nodded. "Sort of my clan then," He pointed out.
"Yes, exactly."
A small Fae approached the Skydancers, a look of excitement on her face. "Who's this, Sagi?" She asked.
"Sagi?" Taruskith echoed. Sagittarius ignored him. "This is Taruskith." He said, answering the Fae's question. "I told you about him, didn't I?"
"Yeah." She said. "That means you know Foxstar, right? That's who Sparrow was stuck in a haunted castle with for a while."
"Iscara here works in the hoard." Sagittarius interrupted. "Organising and whatever."
Taruskith's eyes lit up. He could see some opportunity for mischief there.
"Would you mind if I sleep in the hoard tonight?" He said, trying to make it sound casual. "It sounds rather cosy. It would be wonderful."
Sagittarius said, "I don't think-"
"That sounds perfect!" Iscara interrupted. "You could help me! It's a mess at the moment. You could hide a Snapper down there."
This just keeps getting better and better, Taruskith thought to himself. Ideas of jump scares and messing around with other dragon's belongings came into mind. But no, he had something much better planned.
He let Iscara lead him through the cave that was the clan's lair and down a massive spiral staircase, three blown-glass pendant-lights suspended from the ceiling illuminated the space from above. She took him into a wide cavern, lined with rough shelves and crevices for storage... or that's what they were supposed to be for. Right now they were occupied by thousands of live sleeping bats.
Iscara growled, clearly annoyed. "Shoo!" She screamed, "Get out!"
She ran forward, flapping her arms and wings, nearly lifting off with the bats in the process. The bats gave a loud, shrill shriek before disappearing into the dark ceiling.
"They go up a hole in the roof," Iscara explained, even though Taruskith had never asked. "It's too dark to see it. This section of the caves goes up for miles."
When Iscara noticed Taruskith wasn't going to respond, or that he didn't seem even remotely interested, she left him alone in the hoard.
Taruskith smiled at this, allowing himself to take in his surroundings. The ground was littered with random items collected from gathering expeditions, or won as trophies from the coliseum.
Perfect for a trap, Taruskith decided. He took from the hoard what he thought would be useful, then he got to work...

In the morning, Taruskith was climbing the stairs to exit the hoard, when Iscara returned.
"Did you enjoy your stay?" She asked. Taruskith could only nod, not wanting to betray the excitement bursting like bubbles within him. He was thinking about the trap he had created. It was a trip wire that triggered a Rube Goldberg-like contraption, that left any sized dragon hanging upside down from the roof with a mouth full of sour apples. He hope Iscara couldn't read his mind... or his fidgety body language, but luckily Iscara didn't seen to be too fazed by either of these.
"Good!" Iscara said, cheerfully. "Well, I wish you luck on your travels! If you excuse me, I need to sort out that hoard!"
Good luck with that, Taruskith thought, as he watched Iscara leave. He heard a massive yell, and he quickly left the clan's camp. Mischief was made. His work there was done!

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Exalting Taruskith to the service of the Shadowbinder will remove them from your lair forever. They will leave behind a small sum of riches that they have accumulated. This action is irreversible.

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