Quests & Challenges

[columns][img] https://i.postimg.cc/HLMcRY9x/R-10.jpg[nextcol][/img] [font="Georgia"][size="7"][color=#FBD4FF]St[/color][color=#EED0FF]ar[/color][color=#E1CCFF]wo[/color][color=#D4C9FF]od[/color][color=#C7C5FF] s[/color][color=#ADBEFF]t[/color][color=#A9C8FD]o[/color][color=#A5D3FB]r[/color][color=#A1DEFA]i[/color][color=#9DE9F8]e[/color][color=#99F4F6]s[/color][/size][/font] [Center][color=#602061][sup]An Arcane event for writers across the globe![/sup][/center][/columns] [Color=#ef1de7]Gretel hummed to herself as she poured the tea into an ornate cup. She took a sip, the cup looking comically large on the little fae. Flopping back, she let her mind wander. All was peaceful, calm and quiet, just how she liked it after a long day..[/color] [Color=#bf17b9] "Gretel! Get up! The library's been robbed!" "What? How?" She asked, trying to recall what had happened last time she was there. "I don't know, but Skaya wants you to help!" She sighed, getting up, grabbing the cup and fluttering down to the library. "You wanted me?" [Color= #8f118b] "Well, we don't know what happened, but we've still got this book of story starters and some others. Only the books on that shelf were robbed- the short story complations." "That's strange.." Gretel replied, taking another sip of tea. "How are we gonna fill up the shelf again?"[/color] [Color=#600c5c] "well, we could always open up the shop again." "Skaya, i know you're wise, but HOW will that help?" Came a voice from the steps. Chocolate was up to her elbows in cookie dough. " Well, the customers could help us. " "How?" Gretel asked curiously .[/color] [Color=#30062e] "we'll ask them to write a story to the story starter. We'll compile the results into some new books! I'd estimate it taking about 2 weeks, assuming we give them one starter every 2 days." " sounds good to me! " Gretel finished her tea, smiling. "Me too, i guess. We'll need some more cookies, though." Gretel grinned. Time to get back to that nap.[/color] [Columns][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/77537854][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/775379/77537854p.png[/img][/url][nextcol][color=black] So, I'd say that brings you pretty up-to-date. Our library's been robbed, and we need help refilling it. Wanna help out? Of COURSE you do! Simply write a short story starting with the current prompt![/columns] [Center] ----- [img]https://i.postimg.cc/L41573MB/IMG-20220209-112846-kindlephoto-2910840-kindlephoto-347618.jpg[/img] ______ The tundra sighed. Why had she gone in? They had told her that she'd get lost, but she hadn't listened. Fool. She stood up from the log. Was that a... Light? Might as well follow it, she thought. She had nothing to lose. She pushed the bramble aside. A... Dragon? "Hey!" She called. " Help! "

That's right, you get STUFF for your efforts here too! Skaya will read through your works before printing the books, and her favourite can choose a prize from the "prize board!"

[Center][font="Georgia"][size="6"][color=#FF26E9]B[/color][color=#B44EF0]a[/color][color=#6976F7]d[/color][color=#1E9EFF]g[/color][color=#6976F7]e[/color][color=#B44EF0]s[/color] [/size][/font] What it says on the tin, pick up your badges here! They will also be on the posts when Skaya announces the winner and next prompt!I BIG ty to @aergate, check out their art cos it's so CUTE spacedad help me [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day One [emoji=firework size=1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/lloqscr_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day Two [emoji=firework size=1] [img] https://i.imgur.com/ndyCnE0_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day Three [emoji=firework size=1] [img] https://i.imgur.com/u2DmkNZ_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day Four [emoji=firework size=1] [img] https://i.imgur.com/tFRiJtW_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day Five[emoji=firework size=1] [img] https://i.imgur.com/zV04ukW_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=planet size=1]Day Six[emoji=old parchment size=1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/QFyR1uC_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [emoji=purple gem 2 size=1]Day Seven[emoji=fae star size=1] [img] https://i.imgur.com/yPQRv9u_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] [Center][font="Georgia"][size="6"][color=#A938AB]G[/color][color=#7E67BE]e[/color][color=#5497D1]n[/color][color=#2AC7E4]e[/color][color=#00F7F7]r[/color][color=#2AC7E4]a[/color][color=#5497D1]t[/color][color=#7E67BE]o[/color][color=#A938AB]r[/color][/size][/font][/center] http://www.generatorland.com/usergenerator.aspx?id=28241 Oh yeah.. We've made you a generator! It'll give you one item that you MUST include in your story! Of course, it's totally optional to use and we've got badges for using it A. Once and B. Every time! [Columns][color=transparent]_____________________________________[/color][img] https://i.imgur.com/dH2jt5z_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/HI9RnkC_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img][/columns] Enjoyyy!

[b][font=Times New Roman][size=5][color=#FF00FF]T[/color][color=#DA17F1]o[/color][color=#B62EE4]d[/color][color=#9145D7]a[/color][color=#6D5DCA]y[/color][color=#4874BD]'[/color][color=#248BB0]s[/color] [color=#248BB0]P[/color][color=#4874BD]r[/color][color=#6D5DCA]o[/color][color=#9145D7]m[/color][color=#B62EE4]p[/color][color=#DA17F1]t[/color][color=#FF07FF]:[/color][/size][b][font=Times New Roman][size=5][/b] The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more.. Sophisticated. She gulped. [I]Curse this tiny spiral body![/i] "O Arcanist..." Deep breath. " i wanted tk ask you something.. " Today's badge: [img] https://i.imgur.com/lloqscr_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium.png[/img] And you can submit stories from now 'till tuesday! (GMT)

Bump

TODAY'S PROMPT [quote]The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more.. Sophisticated. She gulped. Curse this tiny spiral body! "O Arcanist..." Deep breath. " I wanted to ask you something.. "[/quote] GENERATOR BONUS [quote]a tundra named Millie[/quote] The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her side in an effort to look more… Sophisticated. She gulped. Curse this tiny spiral body! “O Arcanist…” Deep breath. “I wanted to ask you something…” She looked expectantly at the statue. It remained motionless, but she could swear she saw a little glimmer in its eyes. Encouraged, she continued. “I have been thinking, and I…” “What are you doing?” She shrieked and whirled around, nearly tying her long body into a pretzel knot. “Millie! Quit sneaking up on me!” “Sorry.” The tundra gave an apologetic smile and sat down, curiously looking at the little statue Evy had been talking to. “Question still stands, though.” “Yeah, yeah…” The spiral twirled around herself, then coiled up between Millie’s fluffy paws. “Don’t laugh at me, okay?” “Promise.” Millie bowed her head down to nuzzle Evy. “I…” Evy swallowed. “I wanted to ask if the Arcanist could change me, to be like you.” “Like me?” Millie blinked in surprise. “You mean you want to be a tundra, too?” “Yeah.” Evy sighed. “Maybe. Not sure. I just… Don’t like being a spiral anymore.” It was tough for her to say, but saying it felt like she’d shed half of her weight. Millie frowned, clearly thinking hard about ways she could help Evy. It was something Evy had always admired about her partner. Millie would always worry and immediately start looking for ways to take those worries away. “Well, what do you want to be, then? There’s a lot of options.” Millie swished her tail. “Actually, on second thought, why don’t we ask Honey? He has access to the scrying pool, right? I bet he can pull a few strings and let you see what you’d be like as some other breeds.” Evy coiled up tighter. “I don’t know…” These choices were hard, and right now, she didn’t want to think anymore. “It’s alright.” Millie shifted to cover more of Evy’s body with her long fur. “Take your time. You don’t have to know the answers now. These things take time, you know. Even Baldwin didn’t change in a day.” That earned her a snort and a bemused twirl from the spiral, who knew all too well that her partner loved twirl-cuddles. “You know what, I’ll miss burrowing into your fluff like this” she said with a sigh. “You could become a veilspun” Millie teased. “Yeah, and you could become a Gaoler” Evy countered, her worried expression finally making way for a grin that grew wider as she dwelled on that mental image for a while. Gaolers were gigantic! Millie would tower over her! Millie laughed too, that bright tinkling laugh that Evy loved so much. “Alright, sassy. You win this round.” “Like every other round” Evy couldn’t resist giving one final jab. The tundra puffed her fur up in clearly fake annoyance. “HEY! You already won!” Just as quickly as the conversation had devolved into banter, the banter devolved into giggling about everything and nothing, just the way Evy liked it. She’d save the serious conversation for later, when she was ready to talk about it. For now, it was good to know Millie would support her no matter who she was.

[quote=Today's Prompt] The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more... sophisticated. She gulped. [i](Curse this tiny spiral body!)[/i] "Oh Arcanist..." [i](Deep breath.)[/i] "I wanted to ask you something..." [/quote] [quote=Generator Bonus] a familiar [/quote] ----- [center][Reserve][/center]

generator gave me "an angry mirror"

took some liberties with the beginning of the prompt, i hope that's all right! i'm also not super informed on canon lore haha so i sorta just winged it with some of this stuff-

also i don't know if you're going to be doing a pinglist or not but if you are could i please be pinged for each prompt?

apologies for the horrendous LENGTH and also fun fact one of the times i had to type banescale i almost typed balescun. next fr breed leaked woops

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The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more sophisticated. Curse this tiny Spiral body! All twisting and mangled.. no wonder my superiors don't take me seriously...

Trembling, she gulped, in an attempt to swallow fear rather than saliva, as her mouth was irritatingly dry. (This didn't work. She was still just as afraid, maybe even more so.)

"O, Arcanist..."

She took a deep breath. Her stupid high-pitched voice was shaking even more than her body, somehow.

"I wanted to ask you something..."

She pursed her lips and shut her eyes, tight. She clutched the ancient tome to her chest and rested her chin on its back.

"You, O Great Mage, are much more knowledgeable on these matters than I... I am but a humble servant of my queens. I come to you for your expertise."

The Spiral was still shaking but she knew she had to be in peace of mind for this to work properly. She took another deep breath and tried to relax herself, her grip on the tome, her body as a whole. The image of a mirror came into her mind — a mirror whose glass was black as ink, and shone with an almost lifelike gleam. The glass was held in intricate silver, and black wisps of smoke slowly seeped out of the glass.

"Recently one of my queens went to one of our resident mages — the one that specializes in enchanting objects, you see — to enchant a mirror for her. She asked that this mirror be enchanted to show whoever is looking into it the most beautiful version of themselves possible, possible for them to be without any major changes to themselves. She wanted it as a present for someone, someone she knew that needed to see how beautiful they were, so she asked and she received. But the mirror — the mirror isn't functioning as intended. It shows the dragon, whoever is looking into it, as beautiful as they can be, but then this... this black smoke begins to spill out, and the image warps, and it becomes clouded and begins to come apart... O Arcanist, I know you are an expert in these matters, in these matters of magic gone wrong, so I am humbly asking for your help in figuring out just what is happening here..."

The Spiral gulped again. She waited for an answer — for a few seconds, and then a few minutes, and as the time began to pass she worried that no answer would come, that she was doing this wrong...

But then she felt a warmth emanating from the tome in her talons, against her chest. A pleasant, comforting warmth. She almost broke her state of calm in her surprise, but she dared not break the link between her and the Arcanist.

"You are right to come to me..."

The Arcanist's voice came from inside her head, in the very center of her brain. It did not feel like anything, and there was no echo, and the volume of his voice was in no way overwhelming. It was exactly the same as any time she had spoken herself, in her thoughts, except now it was a different voice than her own and she was not controlling what it was saying.

"This mage... the one who enchanted the mirror... they are too powerful for it to be a simple mistake in their enchantment?"

"Yes, O Great Mage. they are far too powerful for that to be the case."

"I see... in which case it could only have been done on purpose... they must be jealous of whoever the mirror is for."

"Really! Oh that is unfortunate... and how must we fix the enchantment?"

"You shall have to convince the enchanter to do so themselves... this sort of thing cannot be helped by a different mage than the one who performed the original enchantment."

"I see! Well, thank you, thank you so much O Arcanist! I shall inform my queens immediately!"

The warmth slowly left the tome and the Spiral carefully placed it back on its lectern before hopping into the air and heading straight for the throne room.

"O queens! The Arcanist has answers for us!"

Her queens — a Veilspun and a Banescale, the Veilspun lying in a heap in front of the Banescale, the two of them like a penguin and its egg — perked up at the sound of her voice.

The Spiral cleared her throat and hovered before the two of them.

"Terrible news, my queens, but the Arcanist says that the mage has sabotaged the mirror on purpose, for they are jealous of the dragon it is for, and only they themselves can fix the enchantment, no other mage can."

"Ah... that is indeed terrible news."

The Veilspun drooped with disappointment at this revelation.

"We shall have to find our mage and get them to fix the enchantment, won't we, dear?"

She looked up at the Banescale, who gave her a quick nod and kicked off of her throne, pumping her wings to send her shooting down a hallway. The Veilspun gracefully followed and so did the Spiral, though hesitantly, as she didn't know if she was supposed to or not.

The three of them soon reached a large wooden door covered in etchings of old magical chants and runes. It had one simple silver knocker, which the Banescale made use of — the sound it produced against the door was loud and full and carried with it the thought of an ancient crumbling wizard's tower in an old high fantasy story.

The sound of footsteps came quickly after and the door opened to reveal a rather irritated-looking Skydancer.

"Forgive me for my attitude, my queens, but you interrupted me in the middle of a rather relaxing research run."

"Forgiven. But for that only. You sabotaged the mirror. On purpose."

The Skydancer narrowed their eyes at the Veilspun, who was fluttering in the air beside the Banescale.

"You have no proof."

"The Arcanist himself told my closest advisor here that you did it, and that only you can fix it."

The Spiral recoiled and began to tremble again as she felt the Skydancer's glare immediately shoot onto her.

"I see. Very well then. I suppose I have no choice if I want to keep my place here in the kingdom."

The Skydancer waved their talon, motioning for the three to come inside — and so they did, and right there on a table covered in books and papers and ink was the mirror.

"Give me a moment here and I'll get it fixed."

They watched, patiently although they were so prepared for the mirror to be working properly, as the Skydancer moved about their little room, collecting strange little objects out of jars and bowls and boxes on the shelves that coated their walls, dipping their talons in various different concoctions, all the while chanting and muttering under their breath. Eventually they circled back to the mirror itself, and some of the objects they had collected were sprinkled on top of the mirror, and some were ground up and rubbed on it until it shone even brighter than before, and the Skydancer was muttering still. When they were finished they took the mirror and handed it to the Veilspun with a huff.

"It should work properly now."

"Thank you. Since you were so quick to correct what you'd done, you are forgiven for this as well, but I will not be so lenient in the future."

"Sure — or, thank you, my queen. Go ahead and test it. I'm going to be resuming my research now."

The Skydancer whipped around and strode deeper into their room and disappeared into a library.

"Here. Look into this, dear. Tell me what you see."

The Spiral reared back a bit in surprise as the Veilspun held the mirror out towards her.

"Oh — oh! Of course, my queen."

She took the mirror gently in her hands and peered into it. The same black smoke from the original, twisted enchantment began to swirl within the glass, and the Spiral was worried for a moment that it still wouldn't work, but the smoke soon began to take the shape of the Spiral herself — exactly as she was at the moment. She blinked in surprise and looked over at the Veilspun, who gave her a small, sweet smile.

"I got this for you, dear. You're ever so cruel to yourself, especially lately. But you're such a wonderful advisor... you should really try being nicer to yourself, dear."

"Really..."

The Spiral trailed off, her jaw hanging agape. She could feel her eyes rapidly welling up with tears.

"Really."

The Veilspun chuckled and coiled her long, sleek body around the Spiral's, resting her cheek against the Spiral's neck and holding her in a tight hug.

Here it is! Took some liberties with the intro to make it match my writing more, but kept the overall vibe the same, I think. Can't wait to read everyone else's! ------------- [size=4][b]Prompt 9/18[/b][/size] [quote=Generator Bonus]a flower garden[/quote] The spiral approached the stone altar awkwardly, wings tucked into her sides in an effort to look more - well, she wasn’t sure. Sophisticated? Calm? She swallowed, hard, glancing down at her tiny spiral body, which seemed too small and too nervous to speak to a god, never mind ask a favor. “O, Arcanist,” She took a deep, shuddery breath. “I - I have a request.” She looked up at the altar for a long, tense moment. The stony visage of the Arcanist peered back down at her, a tome held in one of his many, clawed hands. Magic, represented by craggy streaks and coarse orbs, swirled around his other limbs. Smoke from the brazier at his feet curled up and enveloped the statue in a hazy - somewhat otherworldly - glaze. In the night, the brazier burning with the spiral's offerings was the only light, casting an intimidating downlight on her god. The delicate scent of burning incense tickled her nose. It was quiet. A continuous, heavy quiet. The spiral cleared her throat and glanced behind her at the sprawling garden of flowers, of which the disease plaguing it had spread further than she remembered in the daylight. Crunchy, brown petals and a vague smell of rot now claimed far more flowers than she was comfortable with. "Arcanist, these flowers - they're medicinal." She raised her eyes once more to the Arcanist's unchanging face. "But something is harming them. I'm a botanist, but this - " She turned around again, eyes narrowing uncertainly. Her eyes glimmered with a bit of fear. "I've never seen this, before. It seems I don't know, magical?" She glided down the few steps into the garden. "Not natural, at the very least." She reached down and touched the petal of one of the flowers, normally a beautiful pastel blue but now a struggling mass of rotted brown. The petal broke off instantly, fluttering to the ground. "Are we being punished, Arcanist? If so, for what?" The spiral shook her head in dismay, meandering further into the flowery graveyard. "My clan is good folk." She paused, looking down at her hip where a few leather bags sat, barely filled. Usually used for gathering herbs and flowers, a normal harvest would leave the bags overflowing. She had been lucky to fill them even a quarter, today. "Arcanist, this garden is all my clan has. We rely on these herbs, they're the only medicine we have access to." Tears tinged her eyes, chest tightening. "This garden can't fail, Arcanist. What will my clan do? How will we help our sick?" The spiral turned, voice raising in pitch. "Dragons will [i]die.[/i]" The Arcanist’s cold face stared back at her, unchanging. Unhearing. Unmoving. Most of all, it felt, uncaring. The spiral’s eyes tinged with tears, her vision - and her god - turning blurry. She let out a long, shaky breath, hanging her head. "And it will be my fault." She wasn't sure how long she stood there in the garden, surrounded by the dark starry blanket of night. Her heart was heavy, already mourning those who pas, those who would suffer, due to her failure. Then, softly, she heard the soft sound of glass clinking. Her head snapped up, startled. The first thing she noticed was that the brazier was extinguished. She looked around her, confused. There were no other souls, just her. So, slowly, left with no other choice, she approached the altar once more. A quick ascent up the stone steps and a glance into the bowl of the brazier gave her the explanation she was looking for. There, in the ash, was a large glass jar, reminiscent of a bauble in shape. Amazed, the spiral lifted the glass jar up with a careful paw in front of her wide eyes. She blew, sending the ash fluttering off. Inside was a thin, magenta liquid, which seemed to sparkle, emanating a soft light in her paw. She twisted halfway around, looking at her garden. The dread that had filled her was being replaced by the fast beat of her heart and a rising feeling of hope. He had heard her. The Arcanist had [i]heard her[/i]. He was helping! She clutched the jar to her chest, barely containing the smile that tried to consume her entire face, and looked up at her god. On his face was a newfound, warm smile.

[quote="Prompt"]The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more.. Sophisticated. She gulped. Curse this tiny spiral body! "O Arcanist..." Deep breath. " i wanted to ask you something...[/quote] [quote="Mandatory Item"]a cup of tea (oh wow, that's perfect)[/quote] (I can change the beginning back to the prompt. But since other people are elaborating, I wanted to elaborate too.) The spiral bowed awkwardly, tucking her wings to her sides in an effort to look more... sophisticated. Less like the shy student she was. She gulped. Curse this tiny spiral body! Curse her trembling! She was sure the Arcanist must see how stupid she was. How unworthy she was. "O Arcanist..." She took a deep breath. "I - I want to ask you something. How..." Her voice trembled and cut itself off. She cleared her throat. "How do I learn to understand the stars?" She couldn't believe she'd found the Arcanist. She'd just run from her astonomy test, humiliated. She'd studied so hard, and she'd remembered the constellations, but she couldn't remember the names of a single one of the stars. And then, she'd turned a corner, and there he was. Just sitting there. In the empty classroom she'd sheltered in. Surely he knew she'd stumbled upon him by accident, that she'd hardly earned the ability to speak to him. But what other chance would she have to know? She expected the Arcanist to be offended, or bored, or unimpressed by her question. How many times must he have heard this, and from how many other dragons? Smarter dragons. Bigger dragons better able to prove their worth. But he didn't look angry. He looked... amused? "There is no magic to learning anything," the Arcanist replied. "Even magic. You keep your mind open and learn. You have already found your way to the Observatory. Listen to the dragons around you." "But..." the spiral started. She cleared her throat. "But they've taught me. I just can't understand it." "Patience, hatchling," the Arcanist said. "You must let yourself learn slowly and let the knowledge seep into you, like brewing a cup of tea. You can add the tea leaves to water, but if it's not hot, the tea will not brew. You must keep your mind accepting of new knowledge. And even then, when the leaves are added, a cup of tea is not made in an instant. You have to wait as the leaves steep into the hot water. And you must wait as the understanding of your new knowledge seeps into you." It made sense. She thought. She managed a shy smile and another bow. "Thank you." But where she was sure she'd seen the Arcanist, he was gone. Where he'd been was just an old, rickety table and a chipped, chalcedony teapot. (Also, is there a pinglist? I know I'll forget this is here.)