open The Last of One's Kind

[FractalMoon 378]

@,

The dragon replies weakly, still afraid the loud man will hurt him, despite all the evidence to the contrary, "W-was it wrong to talk to you? I'm sorry... I just... Are you my new master? My old master gave me a name... H-he called me 'fucking useless waste of space and food'... T-that's a name right?" it whimpers.

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111,

"What? You expect me to know all your insults?" Asator flips off Draco again and flies behind him. He gets ready to speak once more, but before he couls utter a word, Draco put his hand over his face.

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"Oh why thank you, Draco..." Zefira tackled the man and pulled out her blade.

"WHO ARE YOU?! Why did you poison me? Why can I see this other man, but not touch him?!"

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@,

"A name, like what you are called. Like, My name is...wait did you just talk? Did I just understand you too?"

Asator looks at the dragon, worried he might be losing his mind.

Draco chuckled slightly and said "He's a spirit that's haunting me. I'm Draco O'Malley the last Dracomancer. I poisoned you to take you hostage. Does that answer your question?" Draco asked with a grin on his face. "This is a compromising position," Draco said as he examined the postion they are in. "Olaf shut it," Draco said.

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@,
Asator looks at the dragon and sighed. He was sad to see the noble beast lowered to groveling and scared.
"No..thats fine. At least I have someone to talk to while I travel. And your old master is gone. He wont hurt you anymore. As for me, I am not your master. Think of me as a friend." Asator smiles and looks ahead.
"Thats not a name, by the way. More like an insult. Do you remember what your name was before you were chained to that guy?"
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@@dragon4111, 
Zefira blushes and grows more angry. She presses the dagger closer to Draco's throat and growls.
"Why did you take me hostage? And were all the Dracomancers perverted, like you?"

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Olaf chuckles, finding the altercation between Zefira and Draco hilarious.  

[dragon4111 914]

@,

Asator looks at the dragon and sighed. He was sad to see the noble beast lowered to groveling and scared.

"No..thats fine. At least I have someone to talk to while I travel. And your old master is gone. He wont hurt you anymore. As for me, I am not your master. Think of me as a friend." Asator smiles and looks ahead.

"Thats not a name, by the way. More like an insult. Do you remember what your name was before you were chained to that guy?"

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@@dragon4111, 

Zefira blushes and grows more angry. She presses the dagger closer to Draco's throat and growls.

"Why did you take me hostage? And were all the Dracomancers perverted, like you?"

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Olaf chuckles, finding the altercation between Zefira and Draco hilarious.  

"Excuse me?" Draco asked. "The only perverted one here is Olaf," Draco said as he sighed "Look what I want is the texts the Dragon Riders took from my people. It's called a Soul Cairn where we keep the souls of the dead dragons until we can find them hosts to purify the evil with in them," Draco explained. "The soul I have with in me is called Ancalagon the Black. A greedy dragon of great and terrible power,"

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111,
Zefira shakes her head.
"We took them for a reason. What if you put the soul of a dragon that no one has ever seen before? What if you unleash evil we could only dream about?!" Zefira retorts. 
She didn't know much about what Draco was referring to, but she knew he wasn't gonna catch onto that.
 

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111,

Zefira shakes her head.

"We took them for a reason. What if you put the soul of a dragon that no one has ever seen before? What if you unleash evil we could only dream about?!" Zefira retorts. 

She didn't know much about what Draco was referring to, but she knew he wasn't gonna catch onto that.

 

Do you even know what a Soul Cairn is?" Draco asked as pushed her off of him. "A Soul Cairn makes the souls feel at peace for a time. We have been doing this for thousands of years you know," Draco said as he sighed "See this distrust is why I'm the last of the Dracomancers. We dealth with the spirits of evil dragons. If they cannot be saved then they are destroyed,"

[FractalMoon 378]

@,@@dragon4111,  

The dragon holds its unhurt wing against Asator's neck, trying to support itself on his shoulder. The shrunken form served a dual purpose, to both reduce the amount of energy the dragon needed to function, allowing it to grow, and decrease the size of its wounded wing, to speed the healing process along. To show its happiness, it nuzzles against his neck, "You mean there will be no more hurting? Thank you! I... The nice woman who helped hatch me, she called me something... I guess my name is Aletheia... What is a friend? Is it nice to have one?" It asks. The dragon is obviously very young, 2 or 3 years old at most, and likely spent its entire life in the care/clutches of the Dragon Riders.

 

Lily slowly draws a sigil designed during the war to lead Dracomancers into an ambush by simulating the feeling of one of their kind being nearby. This forest had special meaning to her, hundreds of years ago, before these trees had grown, a battle had occurred here. A battle where her dragon was killed, and the same battle where her infamous nickname was coined. Specifically, it was only a few hundred meters from the event that caused her name to be given, and she could still feel the ground crackle with electricity today. This is where she chose to call the Dracomancer to, just in case things went according to her plans, or went south entirely, she wanted to be as close as she could to a source of power. With a flick of her dagger, a single drop of blood falls on the sigil and activates it, ironically under a pretense of treaty rather than ambush.

[Demirari 454]

@,

"Everything you know," one of the captains spoke as he lifted his head from his palms in deep thought. "Maximum size? Smallest? The range of smell? The average temperature of dragon's fire? How sharp are the teethes? The average pressure of a dragon's jaws?" Many nodded, agreeing with most of the questions.

 

----

(This post is on an unknown part of the Praeses Church.)

 

"Apprentice," an elderly man spoke as he waved towards a blade, "my experiment is done."

 

"What is it?" A younger voice questioned.

 

"The next step of graphene my apprentice," the elderly man replied in earnest, "the history of humanity's chance. Let me tell you of the story and we'll begin when we finish." The elderly man drank a cup of water before continuing in the dim room equivalent of a smashed together laboratory and smith.

 

"Humanity, when it discovered steel, felt invincible. Stronger than iron it was. More durable and resilient. We thought we achieved all. We were wrong as our blades are mere nuisances against greater beast. They broke easily.

 

We could never conquer Arcanum and part of Sorsasa at that point… till we discovered graphite," the elderly man held up a ore of graphite smiling, "we discovered what it can really do. Graphene was born. Like an instant, our armor could protect us from greater threats. Countless beasts laid dead with the aid of graphene melded into our armors.

 

Next, we yet to master blades… we, however, discovered the art of refining a blade through Faith and better smithing. Refined Steel was born from this. This enhanced our blades and armor. We conquered Arcanum and landed on Sorasa to bring it under Praeses.

 

Far too slow, that is why we research. That… is why I researched this," the elderly man lifted the seemingly light blade, "made from mostly graphene and little of refined steel. This will guide us in a war I believe will end the dragon riders and their so called 'friends,' pets more like."

 

The apprentice received the blade and felt its light weight, "How?"

 

"Faith and science boy, I'll show this to the rest and you."

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111, 

Zefira landed on her butt and got up, rubbing it.
"Ow....well if they were destroyed then that means they weren't murdered." Zefira says.

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@,
"Aletheia, huh? Thats a nice name. Mind if I call you Ali for short? Having a friend is the best thing in this world. It beats being alone..by yourself." Asator looks over at Aletheia and smiles.
"So, you want to go anywheres, or want any food?"

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111, 

Zefira landed on her butt and got up, rubbing it.

"Ow....well if they were destroyed then that means they weren't murdered." Zefira says.

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@,

"Aletheia, huh? Thats a nice name. Mind if I call you Ali for short? Having a friend is the best thing in this world. It beats being alone..by yourself." Asator looks over at Aletheia and smiles.

"So, you want to go anywheres, or want any food?"

Draco sighed "You aren't really getting it are you miss...Dracomancers were destroyed because of mistrust or greed," Draco explained. He felt a pull on his draconic soul. "Ah so she came through. Now miss captain. Get your armor on. It's time to see this situation through,"

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111, 
"Im thinking its more along the lines of greed." Zefira said back.
"So now you want me to follow you. You know what? I'll follow you. Not because I have to, but because im interested in you."
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Olaf chuckles and flies around the house
"Zefira an Draco sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the ugliest baby in the world in the ugliest baby carriage."

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111, 

"Im thinking its more along the lines of greed." Zefira said back.

"So now you want me to follow you. You know what? I'll follow you. Not because I have to, but because im interested in you."

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Olaf chuckles and flies around the house

"Zefira an Draco sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the ugliest baby in the world in the ugliest baby carriage."

"Sometimes I hate that guy," Draco said as he face palmed. "Er I'm alittle nude so yeah," Draco said as he pointed to the lone cloth covering his manhood he walked into the armory putting on a white tunic then placing black armor on. "Much better," Draco said as he walked to Zefira. He motion for her to follow him into a cave system.

[Nameless Knight 1,001]

Shadow had left the Tavern once Lily warped away. Shadow and Tenebae and returned to the tree she had been reading under before Lily showed up. Tenebae laid down a few yards away and watched Shadow. Shadow sat down under the tree and opened her book and continued to move her hand across the page.

[FractalMoon 378]

@,@@Demirari,  

The dragon 'chirps' happily, "I-I don't mind... I have never had one of these friend things before. I think I like you though, you don't hurt me, and you saved me from that horrible person... Do you want to ride me when I get bigger? That horrible person said I was destined to be ridden by him, but I'd actually be ok with you riding me... And I am hungry..." Asator hears the dragon's stomach rumble loudly, as if it hadn't been fed in days.

Cassandra nods and pulls out a thick stack of notes and figures from her bag, "This is everything the church knows about dragons, about 40% of it is my own research, and I don't expect you to read it all so I'll go through the basics. The average dragon can breathe a flame of approximately 3400 degrees Kelvin. As you may know, there are few substances that can withstand that kind of heat while remaining thermoisolative enough to prevent the user from being cooked from the inside. These temperatures can vary depending on the dragon, particularly on its age, but the maximum recorded temperature was in excess of 4000 degrees Kelvin. Thankfully, this is rare, and only a few of the most powerful and long-lived dragons would ever be able to reach that kind of temperature. As for other attributes, their bites have a crushing power of approximately 3000 PSI over a point of .4 inches, totaling in an effective crushing power of 1200 pounds on each tooth. As you may be able to guess, no human can withstand that kind of pressure without a massive amount of Faith. Their teeth are not sharp, they are blunt-teethed with large amounts of crushing power. As for size, they can range from the size of a large turkey to over 300 feet in length. Total displacement can range between 14 pounds and hundreds of tons. They are a primarily auditory race, though a strong secondary sense of smell is an addition that allows them to detect prey from up to 3 miles out, 5 miles if they're downwind. Any other questions?" She says, a newfound confidence in her due to being in a field she understands.

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111,
Zefira cringed at Draco's announcement, but shortly afterwards she sighs at Olaf's child like chanting.
"We have the pervert, and his sidekick, Casper the Childish Ghost." She says.
Zefira waited as Draco got on his armor. As Draco motioned for her to follow him, Zefira adjusted her new armor and did some acrobats towards Draco.
"Seems lighter than my normal garb. Alright, lets go."
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Olaf followed behind Draco. He gets close to Draco's and whispers into it.
"Hey...brew me a potion so I can eat physical food...please...for a brother?"

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@,
Asator stops, taken aback by Ali's proposal. He thought of riding the majestic dragon and smiled widely.
"I would love to ride you! But only if you are ok with it, if there any doubts or you feel uncomfortable with the idea then I won't ride you."
Asator hears Ali's stomach gurgle and soon feels his own stomach grumble.
"Seems we are both hungry. Come on, lets go to the local mess hall and have a feast worthy of a king!"

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111,

Zefira cringed at Draco's announcement, but shortly afterwards she sighs at Olaf's child like chanting.

"We have the pervert, and his sidekick, Casper the Childish Ghost." She says.

Zefira waited as Draco got on his armor. As Draco motioned for her to follow him, Zefira adjusted her new armor and did some acrobats towards Draco.

"Seems lighter than my normal garb. Alright, lets go."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Olaf followed behind Draco. He gets close to Draco's and whispers into it.

"Hey...brew me a potion so I can eat physical food...please...for a brother?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

@,

Asator stops, taken aback by Ali's proposal. He thought of riding the majestic dragon and smiled widely.

"I would love to ride you! But only if you are ok with it, if there any doubts or you feel uncomfortable with the idea then I won't ride you."

Asator hears Ali's stomach gurgle and soon feels his own stomach grumble.

"Seems we are both hungry. Come on, lets go to the local mess hall and have a feast worthy of a king!"

"You know I can't do that Olaf. Goes against what we Dracomancer's are about," Draco said as he ignored the comment. "And Here we are," Draco said as he pulled aside a boulder that blocked a hidden passage into the forrest. He grin "Wing dracomancers tended to have back up plans,"

[FractalMoon 378]

@@dragon4111,

Zefira cringed at Draco's announcement, but shortly afterwards she sighs at Olaf's child like chanting.

"We have the pervert, and his sidekick, Casper the Childish Ghost." She says.

Zefira waited as Draco got on his armor. As Draco motioned for her to follow him, Zefira adjusted her new armor and did some acrobats towards Draco.

"Seems lighter than my normal garb. Alright, lets go."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Olaf followed behind Draco. He gets close to Draco's and whispers into it.

"Hey...brew me a potion so I can eat physical food...please...for a brother?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

@,

Asator stops, taken aback by Ali's proposal. He thought of riding the majestic dragon and smiled widely.

"I would love to ride you! But only if you are ok with it, if there any doubts or you feel uncomfortable with the idea then I won't ride you."

Asator hears Ali's stomach gurgle and soon feels his own stomach grumble.

"Seems we are both hungry. Come on, lets go to the local mess hall and have a feast worthy of a king!"

Ali growls happily, "I like to fly, it was the only time that horrible person was less horrible. I really want you to ride me once my wing is better, then I can fly really well and you'll be even nicer!" He continues to happily wrap himself around Asator's neck, thoroughly exited by the idea of being fed.

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111,
Olaf sighs and floats around Draco's head.
"Fine, Fine...its not like you OWE me anything."

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Zefira stood behind Draco as he opened up a secret passageway. 
"Back up plans, huh? At least your smart...for a pervert." Zefira continues to follow Draco.

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@,
Asator laughs and pets Ali's head. 
"Then its settled! When you are all better we will go flying together. For now though, lets quell the beasts in our stomachs with a feast!" 
Asator walks into the towns mess hall and orders a feast fit for a king. He pulls out the box the Grandmaster gave to him and sets it on the table.
 

[dragon4111 914]

@@dragon4111,

Olaf sighs and floats around Draco's head.

"Fine, Fine...its not like you OWE me anything."

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Zefira stood behind Draco as he opened up a secret passageway. 

"Back up plans, huh? At least your smart...for a pervert." Zefira continues to follow Draco.

-------------------------------------------------

@,

Asator laughs and pets Ali's head. 

"Then its settled! When you are all better we will go flying together. For now though, lets quell the beasts in our stomachs with a feast!" 

Asator walks into the towns mess hall and orders a feast fit for a king. He pulls out the box the Grandmaster gave to him and sets it on the table.

 

"Fone Olaf. Next time we're in town I'll let you see up some girl's shirt," Draco said as he face palmed again "Agin how am I perverted?" Draco asked as he escorted her to the metting place slowly his sword drawn just in case something happened. Oi Grandmaster you have what I want?"

[Demirari 454]

@,

The captains began chattering among themselves at such news. The information given were certainly up to their interest as the voices grew louder and louder on tactics and counters already. Then a single hand silenced them all. "Interesting, the information given was superbly good as seen by the recent chatters. I do believe you made a good impression, even on the doubters... now," Lady Florence continued after a small pause, "are there any noteworthy weaknesses?"

----

(Surprise guys. Walls of texts!)

 

Inlustratori Alexander was beginning to relax on his sofa in the upper section of the Sedatio citadel. Reading a large ancient volume while facing toward the open glass panels looking down at the visible areas. Smiling, Inlustratori Alexander drank a small glass of wine as he turned the dusty old pages of the novel. There was possibly nothing as of current that would be pressing to the elderly leader of Praeses. All of his duties are done as a figurehead of Praeses and had given speeches to the masses; he even greeted citizens and pilgrims personally with handshakes and all. He reclined himself in his small hour-long vacation.

 

Footsteps behind him. That caused Inlustratori Alexander to make an audible sigh. "Who is there and the purpose of this meeting?" Pressing matters, like always, go ahead of personal pleasures. Even if such pleasures were as simple as reading a novel and drinking wine for the remainder of the day. Don't even dare say sloth to such things, a hard worker requires small relaxations there and there.

 

"Monarchist events are happening," the familiar dead and disturbing voice of Nox appeared to Inlustratori Alexander's ears, "the kings, princes, queens, and princesses are growing ever bolder in challenging the rule of Praeses. Secret meetings. Soldiers of their allegiance had even dare demand taxes of churches. My spies and I believe a civil war is approaching that'll reshape Arcanum." 

 

Talks of a civil war was common; they were extremely common among the intellectuals and the radicals. It isn't rare or even outright insane to declare a civil war will dawn one day. Certain truth was the ideals of Praeses favoring freedoms of peasants conflicting against most standing monarchies of Arcanum. It wasn't just Arcanum that was affected of course, the Praeses colonies in Sorasa were affected as well. From a minor matter, it was always considered a minor matter to many, to an ever-growing crisis. 

 

Inlustratori Alexander sighed as he glanced at the half-empty wine glass. "Upon what nations or provinces are on which fence?" He must known their current chances in the upcoming war. Right now was the peak of chances for preparations.  

 

Nox didn't respond, he simply walked forward, as he took a seat near Inlustratori Alexander. Finally announcing the answer Inlustratori Alexander both feared and wanted, "It is a very complex thing to determine right now. However, we are certain that many of the liberalistic nations and provinces are on our side of the field. Especially the commonwealths and republic governments. Even better are some of the monarchistic nations... though those are small and will entirely be waste of space."

 

Rubbing his eyes with his hands, Inlustratori Alexander raised a question, "The colonies on Sorasa?" If allegiances are favorable to the church, they can easily crush the resistance and show face to the accursed dragon riders.

 

"Favorable, especially considering, without any doubt, Doritha will be on our side," Nox replied, relaxation taking over his form. "Resistances will be worth noting, but with Doritha and Praeses Ordinis over there, it'll be a quick victory." That was good and delighted the ears of Inlustratori Alexander. With such information, Inlustratori Alexander can prepare to win the upcoming civil war and save face on Sorasa. In a second, before Inlustratori Alexander could ask any questions, Nox disappeared. It was as if he was never there as he left Inlustratori Alexander alone.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Demirari

[FractalMoon 378]

@@Demirari,@, @@dragon4111,  

Cassandra nods, silently wishing she had a blackboard to write on as she tried her best to outline the weaknesses various researchers had found, "Well, the main disadvantage they have is a lack of maneuverability. While they can operate in a three dimensional battlefield, dragons have an immense amount of inertia, meaning that it is almost impossible for them to change directions quickly. We can use this to our advantage by leading shots from ballistae and other siege weapons to hit them dead-on. They also have incredibly sensitive and fragile wing membranes, which if damaged will render them grounded for an extended period of time. Other than that their digestive systems are incredibly specialized for protein-based substances, and their metabolic system has increased trouble catalyzing cellulose. Thus, if provided in the right way, a plant based poison would have a long-lasting effect on them.That's... That's all we've found so far..." She says before sitting down.

 

The dragon happily begins to eat. The food it is eating is a sort of flash-dried meat jerky that appears to have some sort of nutrient-laced substance baked in. After a while it looks over to Asator, "Would you like some?" 

 

Lily pivots on one foot, still ready for any combat that may occur, "I might, do you have my captain? You show me her, and I may not burn this scroll you want to ash... It's a shame we couldn't have met on better terms, after all, I wanted to talk to you anyway."

[Rainbow Dash 1,473]

@@dragon4111,
Olaf raspberries at Draco and crosses his arms.
"I am not like that. And for the record you see DOWN women's shirts...not UP...not that I do that whenever we go out."

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Zefira follows Draco, grumbling until they stopped.
"You took off my armor in hopes to see something worthwhile. Pervert." Zefira said.
She heard the voice of the Grandmaster, asking for her. Delighted, Zefira stepped from behind Draco and walked to the side of him.

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@,
Asator was biting into a giant turkey leg when Ali spoke to him, offering its food.
"Whats that? You want to share with me? Well arent you a thoughtless fella. I think that food is for you only, but I will have some if you take a bite of the turkey leg." 

[dragon4111 914]

"As you can see. She is fine," Draco said as he looked at Zefira with an eye twitching. If he could he would have punched out Olaf. "And I want to see the scroll," Draco said as he walked forward slowly. He felt power within the earth itself. "Lilly the trapper," Draco said.

[FractalMoon 378]

@,@@dragon4111,  

Ali takes a large bite of the turkey leg, biting straight through the bone and chewing happily, "This is good... Did you call it... Turkey? This doesn't taste as good, but it's apparently good for me..." He says, digging back into his food.

Lily pulls the scroll from her bag and lets a small fireball appears in her hand, "Alright, now bring her to me, and I'll hand over the scroll. Then we can discuss further business."

[dragon4111 914]

@,@@dragon4111,  

Ali takes a large bite of the turkey leg, biting straight through the bone and chewing happily, "This is good... Did you call it... Turkey? This doesn't taste as good, but it's apparently good for me..." He says, digging back into his food.

Lily pulls the scroll from her bag and lets a small fireball appears in her hand, "Alright, now bring her to me, and I'll hand over the scroll. Then we can discuss further business."

Draco chuckled as he looked at her "Zefira go to your grandmaster," Draco said as he stood there in front of Lilly. His hand outstretched and opened for her to drop it into his hand. "And I'm not a pervert. That's Olaf's gig," Draco said knowing it would offend his long time friend.