[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/s4iNE6T.png[/img][/center]
[center][size=8][b]May the Darkness Obscure and Absolve You[/b][/size]
[quote=Pneuma][font=Gabriola][size=5]Why do we live in the darkness? What meaning is there to owing our identity to a mere lack of light? Because the shadows are not nothing. They are not like the emptiness of the void. Knowing we are each imperfect, the darkness strengthens our imbalances, obscuring what we lack and allowing our advantages to become strengths. The endless night is a freedom from the judgement of others and a mask that allows us to always be precisely who we are. Without the persecution of the Light, our only truth is this freedom, this beauty allowed us by the Shadowbinder. Even obscured in the one darkness, we are many and few, strong and sickly, selfish and cherishing. We are rife with possibility and exactly our own true nature, and we stand against against the Light as much as for ourselves.[/size][/font][/quote][/center]
Proper full intro pending.
If you message me here, please ping so I don't fail to notice. This thread is a huge WiP and I'm letting it float to the bottom of the forums until I get the gumption to work on more edits.
May the Darkness Obscure and Absolve You
Pneuma wrote:
Why do we live in the darkness? What meaning is there to owing our identity to a mere lack of light? Because the shadows are not nothing. They are not like the emptiness of the void. Knowing we are each imperfect, the darkness strengthens our imbalances, obscuring what we lack and allowing our advantages to become strengths. The endless night is a freedom from the judgement of others and a mask that allows us to always be precisely who we are. Without the persecution of the Light, our only truth is this freedom, this beauty allowed us by the Shadowbinder. Even obscured in the one darkness, we are many and few, strong and sickly, selfish and cherishing. We are rife with possibility and exactly our own true nature, and we stand against against the Light as much as for ourselves.
Proper full intro pending.
If you message me here, please ping so I don't fail to notice. This thread is a huge WiP and I'm letting it float to the bottom of the forums until I get the gumption to work on more edits.
[center][size=6][size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Noble Tier[/b][/color][/font][/size][/size]
The noble tier is the highest within the Enclave, comprising only of Pneuma, his mate, and selected heir. Though there are others in the clan that share blood with them, only these three retain executive power over all of the lower castes.
[columns][center]
[b]Patriarch[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=8646058][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/86461/8646058p.png?mtime=VW4oIwAAP0I.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Pneuma[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Matriarch[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=11066734][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/110668/11066734p.png?mtime=VWzIYQAAO4M.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Anima[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Heir[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12553371][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/125534/12553371p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Spirit[/sup][/columns]
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/a26bf027f53754c010781f5c937cb153/tumblr_nj9kyb0AiI1r28672o6_1280.png[/img][/center]
[center][size=6][size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Troika Tier[/b][/color][/font][/size][/size]
The troika is comprised of all shadow dragons that fall outside of the Noble caste and is divided up between the Militant, Religious, and Artisan castes. While technically these castes are equal in power, the Artisans have the least influence within the Enclave. The troika have no council of representatives, each caste instead communicating individually with the nobles and settling differences between them without interference.
[size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Religious[/b][/color][/font][/size]
The religious caste is headed by the Darkened Sisters, who claim to commune with the Shadowbinder, and those that serve under them. Their seat of power is within the unnamed temple in the heart of the Bleak Strand, at the end of the Glowing Crag where most of the enclave live.
[columns]
[b]Dark Sister[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=10698522][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/106986/10698522p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Abandon[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Dark Sister[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=10698520][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/106986/10698520p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Guile[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Dark Sister[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=10698521][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/106986/10698521p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Delusion[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Acolyte[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12278843][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/122789/12278843p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Creed[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Soothsayer[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12018803][img]http://i.imgur.com/zE5KrI3.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Sooth[/sup]
[/columns]
[size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Militant[/b][/color][/font][/size]
The militant caste is led by Mantra, the Patriarch's eldest surviving daughter. Her army is comprised of the warriors war magi, as well as the mirror pack that circles the Bleak Strand as border patrol.
[columns]
[b]Warmaster[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=10336873][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/103369/10336873p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Mantra[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]War Magi[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=8218778][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/82188/8218778p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Spindle[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Overseer[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=12553372][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/125534/12553372p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Pith[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Exalt Guard[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=10039000][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/100391/10039000p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Auspice[/sup]
[/columns]
[size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Artisan[/b][/color][/font][/size]
The artisan caste is made up of traders, singers, archivists, and all whose livelihood does not involve armor or prayer. There is no formal speaker for the caste, though Ubiety often claims to be the de facto representative.
[columns][center][b]Merchant[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=13851697][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/138517/13851697p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Ubiety[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Alchemist[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=11087898][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/110879/11087898p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Fete[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Whitesmith[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=10469315][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/104694/10469315p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Murk[/sup]
[/columns]
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/a26bf027f53754c010781f5c937cb153/tumblr_nj9kyb0AiI1r28672o6_1280.png[/img][/center]
[center][size=6][size=6][font=Gabriola][color=indigo][b]Bound Tier[/b][/color][/font][/size][/size]
THE BOUND TIER IS WEENIES. HURP HURP HURP
[columns][center][b]Pit Fighter[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=11012442][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/110125/11012442p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Specter[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Jester[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=11320350][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/113204/11320350p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Opine[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Drudge[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12203456][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/122035/12203456p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Oxter[/sup]
[nextcol][center][b]Hoard Guard[/b]
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=14183048][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/141831/14183048p.png[/img][/url]
[sup]Fisc[/sup]
[/columns]
Noble Tier
The noble tier is the highest within the Enclave, comprising only of Pneuma, his mate, and selected heir. Though there are others in the clan that share blood with them, only these three retain executive power over all of the lower castes.
Patriarch
Pneuma
|
Matriarch
Anima
|
Heir
Spirit
|
Troika Tier
The troika is comprised of all shadow dragons that fall outside of the Noble caste and is divided up between the Militant, Religious, and Artisan castes. While technically these castes are equal in power, the Artisans have the least influence within the Enclave. The troika have no council of representatives, each caste instead communicating individually with the nobles and settling differences between them without interference.
Religious
The religious caste is headed by the Darkened Sisters, who claim to commune with the Shadowbinder, and those that serve under them. Their seat of power is within the unnamed temple in the heart of the Bleak Strand, at the end of the Glowing Crag where most of the enclave live.
Dark Sister
Abandon
|
Dark Sister
Guile
|
Dark Sister
Delusion
|
Acolyte
Creed
|
Soothsayer
Sooth
|
Militant
The militant caste is led by Mantra, the Patriarch's eldest surviving daughter. Her army is comprised of the warriors war magi, as well as the mirror pack that circles the Bleak Strand as border patrol.
Warmaster
Mantra
|
War Magi
Spindle
|
Overseer
Pith
|
Exalt Guard
Auspice
|
Artisan
The artisan caste is made up of traders, singers, archivists, and all whose livelihood does not involve armor or prayer. There is no formal speaker for the caste, though Ubiety often claims to be the de facto representative.
Merchant
Ubiety
|
Alchemist
Fete
|
Whitesmith
Murk
|
[center]Artwork[/center]
[url=http://41.media.tumblr.com/b50e2fd8000fed518b600b046882719b/tumblr_no1imfcUSN1usvybdo1_500.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/xOE27fZ.png[/img][/url][url=http://i.imgur.com/ZMAZoQ9.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/Z310x1e.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=8646058] Pneuma[/url], by Lexreon and Thilath
[url=http://i.imgur.com/dOJVaDF.jpg][img]http://i.imgur.com/tr2TUFz.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=11066734] Anima[/url] by corvidus
[url=http://i.imgur.com/xQSTaQD.jpg][img]http://i.imgur.com/XwLsMtq.png[/img][/url] [url=http://i.imgur.com/JE8mDpu.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/CSrquWh.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=8218778]Spindle[/url] by MeganSandbox and Defiance
[url=http://i.imgur.com/r2JDpYZ.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/GsTaBbi.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=11087898]Fete[/url] by Hoatzin
[url=http://i.imgur.com/QjgjZj1.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/94vtpcD.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12558952]Quidnunc[/url] by jlout
[url=http://i.imgur.com/zk5DsTM.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/I2EphyU.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=12465388]Saccharine[/url] by DivineFolly
[url=http://i.imgur.com/kBwCntt.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/kCduoTC.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=121429&tab=dragon&did=14742539]Shivaree [/url]by Kay2036
[url=http://i.imgur.com/UYrpT9O.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/FpAHpDO.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=dragon&id=121429&did=11012442]Specter[/url] by Phantomskjere
Artwork
Pneuma, by Lexreon and Thilath
Anima by corvidus
Spindle by MeganSandbox and Defiance
Fete by Hoatzin
Quidnunc by jlout
Saccharine by DivineFolly
Shivaree by Kay2036
Specter by Phantomskjere
[quote=Writing Sample]
Though the sky was dimming to a surly orange hue, the air was still full of heat and light, in deliberate and spiteful opposition to the dying sun’s wishes. Or at least, so it seemed to the dark-scaled creature winding slowly through the rocky outcrops. The earth itself was blackened, craggy, and pitted, like the torn flesh of an overripe fruit that had burst decades ago and fossilized in place. Between some channels though, light glowed and rippled beneath the thin, cracked crust of oozing molten stone. Spindle squinted uneasily as she approached the next rise.
It was damnably hot even in the darker grooves the imperial slowly moved along. Her eyes burned in the dry air, and it had been ages since they’d last stung last. The pestilence she had known since when she had first hatched had faded several years ago after the raw, angry sores around and on her eyes had finally begun to burst, blinding her and throwing her into a month-long fever that had tried her sanity. Eventually her sight had returned to some small degree, trading away pain and unsightly sores for a dim parody of real sight adn scars to remember the event by. In truth, she had hoped for blindness, hoped for uncommon visions or perhaps the sanctity of the Plaugebringer’s favor. Instead her only “visions” were heinously blurry versions of the natural world she already knew and found wanting. Rather than opening any insight to her, the near-blindness made life essentially impossible without aid. To fly, she needed someone to follow since she could see no landmarks to navigate and couldn't judge distances to land safely. To fight, another was needed to spot ambushes and make up for her nearsighted errors. That left the venues of magic and crafting, but she lacked her father’s natural arcane flair for spellwork, and her poor vision had cost her the precise dexterity needed to master the honest art of crafting. Imperials without an art was like a bad joke, only she was the butt of it. It was one thing to be dependent, but quite another to have no merit to make up for it, and so she found her situation as repulsive as she had her home.
It was all why she had left her home, though she was not utterly alone even now, at least not technically. Keen, the guardian she had left her homeland with, had gone hunting. Spindle could hunt herself, but the guardian had argued it was quicker and safer for her to go alone this one time given the treacherous and unfamiliar landscape, and the imperial had promised to stay put in the dark alcove of rock and earth they had stopped at after her keeper had snarled and roared on long enough. It had been a lie, naturally, and she had kept moving once the white wings had faded away against the orange sky. Without someone to follow in the air, she was forced to walk, but even a few miles would get them that much closer to leaving this land, and Keen would catch up. Spindle was not sure the guardian really cared for her much, but she was an loyal sort wouldn't abandon her so easily.
The imperial stopped as she reached the crest of the next hill and narrowed her eyes at the slope beyond. The ground seemed more open and less riddled with crevices to wander through here, but she saw no magma-glow. Fidgeting her wings, she squinted harder. If not magma, what dangers were there? there had to be something to make up for the seeming safety.[/quote]
Writing Sample wrote:
Though the sky was dimming to a surly orange hue, the air was still full of heat and light, in deliberate and spiteful opposition to the dying sun’s wishes. Or at least, so it seemed to the dark-scaled creature winding slowly through the rocky outcrops. The earth itself was blackened, craggy, and pitted, like the torn flesh of an overripe fruit that had burst decades ago and fossilized in place. Between some channels though, light glowed and rippled beneath the thin, cracked crust of oozing molten stone. Spindle squinted uneasily as she approached the next rise.
It was damnably hot even in the darker grooves the imperial slowly moved along. Her eyes burned in the dry air, and it had been ages since they’d last stung last. The pestilence she had known since when she had first hatched had faded several years ago after the raw, angry sores around and on her eyes had finally begun to burst, blinding her and throwing her into a month-long fever that had tried her sanity. Eventually her sight had returned to some small degree, trading away pain and unsightly sores for a dim parody of real sight adn scars to remember the event by. In truth, she had hoped for blindness, hoped for uncommon visions or perhaps the sanctity of the Plaugebringer’s favor. Instead her only “visions” were heinously blurry versions of the natural world she already knew and found wanting. Rather than opening any insight to her, the near-blindness made life essentially impossible without aid. To fly, she needed someone to follow since she could see no landmarks to navigate and couldn't judge distances to land safely. To fight, another was needed to spot ambushes and make up for her nearsighted errors. That left the venues of magic and crafting, but she lacked her father’s natural arcane flair for spellwork, and her poor vision had cost her the precise dexterity needed to master the honest art of crafting. Imperials without an art was like a bad joke, only she was the butt of it. It was one thing to be dependent, but quite another to have no merit to make up for it, and so she found her situation as repulsive as she had her home.
It was all why she had left her home, though she was not utterly alone even now, at least not technically. Keen, the guardian she had left her homeland with, had gone hunting. Spindle could hunt herself, but the guardian had argued it was quicker and safer for her to go alone this one time given the treacherous and unfamiliar landscape, and the imperial had promised to stay put in the dark alcove of rock and earth they had stopped at after her keeper had snarled and roared on long enough. It had been a lie, naturally, and she had kept moving once the white wings had faded away against the orange sky. Without someone to follow in the air, she was forced to walk, but even a few miles would get them that much closer to leaving this land, and Keen would catch up. Spindle was not sure the guardian really cared for her much, but she was an loyal sort wouldn't abandon her so easily.
The imperial stopped as she reached the crest of the next hill and narrowed her eyes at the slope beyond. The ground seemed more open and less riddled with crevices to wander through here, but she saw no magma-glow. Fidgeting her wings, she squinted harder. If not magma, what dangers were there? there had to be something to make up for the seeming safety.
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/977a28c037db7680a772a714e9c5294d/tumblr_nqyzrfjqhw1uzc8vbo9_500.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/977a28c037db7680a772a714e9c5294d/tumblr_nqyzrfjqhw1uzc8vbo9_500.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/977a28c037db7680a772a714e9c5294d/tumblr_nqyzrfjqhw1uzc8vbo9_500.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]http://40.media.tumblr.com/977a28c037db7680a772a714e9c5294d/tumblr_nqyzrfjqhw1uzc8vbo9_500.png[/img][/center]