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You consider the little kobold as he hops up on the feathered gryphoness. Remaining here to continue your attunement may be the be the best option but you've already found it difficult to concentrate. You're not sure what has kept you so on edge but you're unlikely to get much progress in your current state. If nothing else, the cabal is good at helping you relax so perhaps an evening of being social will assist in clearing the air around your mind.

After a long pause of thought, you shift and raise to follow- much to your beastmaster's surprise. His avian steed helps make swift work of the trek.

"I didn't actually think you'd to come." The smaller male notes.

"I know." You rumble back matter-of-factly. Amos raises an eye ridge at that but keeps whatever comment he was going to make to himself.

The camp is silent at your arrival, they are certainly expecting something but, before you need decide what to tell them, the bird-riding kin hops off and raises his arms in a victory pose.

"I didn't get burnanated!" He cheers. It's your turn to raise an eye ridge at him.

"Yet." You respond plainly, causing his posture to melt into a casual neck rubbing. The moment you see him perk up you know something's about to come out of that muzzle of his that you're going to regret.

"Awwh, you wouldn't burn your own son!" He beams. Though while you snort at his overzealous interpretation of the previous conversation, you can't deny the impact it has on your cabal.

While their murmurs and whispered questions require an explanation that Amos is not your son precisely, the little beings that gather in very much appreciate the conversation about your proposed relationship with their kind that follows. You spend another hour or so curled up beside the fire enjoying their company; such a simple thing but pleasing in a primordial way. It isn't long before they have taken up the conversation entirely and it is your ears that listen to their stories now. Tales of one another and events long past handed down generation to generation. They are not all entirely accurate, but you are disinclined to correct the minute details in favor of letting the grander adventure that is portrayed play out.

You get no meditation during the night but you do _rest_in a way you have not for some time. Truly, you had forgotten what it was like to simply sleep. And, while you cannot be sure the unique aspects of this place have not influenced your mind, you do dream- of sorts. The depths of your subconscious are nearly infinite and letting it roam freely without structure or discipline crafts wild visions of the strangest kind. They are not things you can recall but can still remember like ghost of a memory. It makes you briefly curious if this is the sort of thing other creatures experience each night...

The night itself is warm and inviting. Without your sight to keep you alert you fall into a deeper slumber than you had otherwise intended. Despite the intensity of your sleep, it is all too brief as you are awoken to the sound of squawking and clattering. It takes a moment to rouse yourself but when consciousness returns to you, it arrives with a start as your two eye lids slide open. The frightening depths of your obsidian iris squeeze closed into thin vertical slits in the span of a heartbeat. The reflexive attempt to expand your dragonsight makes you twitch slightly like tweaking a muscle on accident. Instead, that great angular snout lifts from the ground to use other, more basic senses instead.

The sound is irritating, oddly familiar too as you turn toward your beastmaster and his currently agitated mount. Her feathers are fluffed, ears perked, and eyes trained on the inner island. Something has her attention. You grimace at the aggravating rattle upon the air, those clear draconic eyes scanning the forestry. Sunlight has pierced the horizon but it is still below the cusp of the island's edge creating an unusual ethereal glow about the land that muddles the mind.

Your jaw twitches in displeasure at the sound, noticing the gryphon jump as the smaller kobold does his best to calm the excited female. It is at this point that you realize what is making the sound and are quite certain it is not the same Vanamos drum that Amos had with him.Someone's trained her. he had said. Your eyes scan the forest edge carefully.

There is movement.

"Ooowhaahh..." Comes the yawn of concern from your navigator. "What's all the racket...?" She inquires sleepily, peeking out of the nearby tent.

"Zula, find Ramah and rouse the rest of the kobolds." Your eyes continue to look for signs of trouble. "We are not alone."

"What do you mean?" She inquires back, still groggy from the unexpected wakeup call.

"Go. Now. Have the others arm quietly." You don't indulge her, letting the sting of your words do the work of tempering her uncertainty.

There is a surge of realization on her features when the sincerity of your command sinks in. She glances in the direction you are looking but can see little with the other huddled tents overshadowing her view. At least she doesn't question it further, disappearing back inside just long enough to grab her cloth and begins buckling it on her way out of the tent. One kobold turns into two and two to four and beyond, the word spreading rapidly. With a quarter of your troupe already awake from their natural tendency to rise early, the majority of your kin are awake and ready enough not to be surprised by the sudden charge of little bodies that stream out of the forestry on all directions.

They are kobolds!

They wield a variety of crude spears and staves and hammers, some with stone heads and others of gleaming white obsidian. Their little scaly forms wear no clothing though some of their bodies are dressed with garnishes of reed or feathers or bone. Others adorn intricate body art painted with immaculate detail or masks that look made more for ceremony than battle. They had undoubtedly been expecting to rush upon an unprepared encampment at the break of dawn with the intent of subduing your kin with little effort- so to see nearly two dozen well-disciplined and better armed kobolds burst from tents and make a defensive parameter gives them hesitation.

You consider intervening but Ramah's instinctive leadership of the situation keeps your cabal in line with disciplined shouts. All the better as well for, what these creatures may lack in sophisticated technology, they make up for with numbers. You get a count of at least forty before you realize that they are also behind you, another ten or fifteen bounding up the beach, somehow having gone unnoticed before now. You aren't sure how they surrounded you so effectively but, with the added invasion force, you decide to make your presence obtrusively known.

It's not hard to make your great form rise menacingly above the head of little tents and further still as your massive wings unfurl, stretching out wide enough to encompass the entire camp and not even be at your furthest extent. The shadow of your dark hide glows devilishly in the radiant light of the false dawn casting an even more ominous aura upon the congregation of defending kobolds they are attempting to overtake. Your cabal don't flinch in the slightest even with the rising demon at their backside but many those on the offense do.

Some stop, some slow, only a few of the bravest -or most foolish- of the aggressors continue. Even then, it was only half a dragonlength more before they realized the charge had broken and quickly scurried back into place to create a siege around your encampment. There are whispers amongst the crowd of wild kobolds. You hear betri'vera spoke and then harshly corrected by another as falskur'guodómur. It is all you need to hear to know they are part of the fallen kin, kobolds who abandoned dragonkind to live of their own code and accord.

"Surrender, we have you surrounded!" The call comes from a spear-wielding minni'sjalfur or frjals'fraendi, as they call themselves. Her silver eyes peer out from beneath a skull mask of an ancient avian creature, something large enough to wear.

"Setting aside the fact that you are attempting to confront a draconis primus that can burn half of you away in the span of a breath, you are outnumbered." You counter directly and impartially. Her smirking nudge to a nearby comrade dose little to improve his moral.

"Ha, stupid lizard can't even count." She chortles. You don't even bother feigning offence.

"Stupid lizard has been biding his time." Your calm demeanor does wonders to foul her mood further as you simply look up.

Her eyes follow, the camp and its aggressors still in the shadow of your ship where a good thirty or more archers have been alerted to the commotion and, without need of a single shout or command, drawn weapons to defend their kin on the ground below. There is some satisfaction gained both from the crew's initiative and the realization dawning on her yellow and purple face. That defiantly held weapon shifts in her paws in hesitation. If you didn't know kobold-kind as well as you do, it would have been easy to miss the telltale flick of her ear.

"So you come to conquer our land at last too eh? Your own world not good enough, need to track us down and subjugate the frjals'fraendi to sate your lust?" She spits the words with a lash of her tail.

"It was your tribe that proceeded to attack us if I am not mistaken." Your level, calm, calculated nature is certainly agitating her.

"Lies from the fangs of a falskur'guodómur. Bringing your pets here armed, gouging your machines across our home, stealing our gryphons, making yourself fat on our firefruit." Her hisses are punctuated by a jab of her spear in the direction of each infraction. At least Ash's brief but smug grin at that last point shows how calm he is in the face of the unusual situation. "I will NOT hear another lie from your treacherous maw, wurm." Your response is cut off by a vehemence spat.

While you would be well within your means to counter her pig-headed display, anything so direct would undoubtedly result in bloodshed. You have little doubt of your victory in this situation but, based on the sound of the drum you heard earlier resonating from somewhere further inland, you suspect there are more of them. It would be less than ideal to start your first day on this majestic island forced to sunder the native inhabitance. It is a calculated decision.

"Then Zula will speak on my behalf."

The small black and blue kobold is certianly the most shocked of anyone, her violet eyes as wide as softballs as she looks back at you. But your glance down at her is both confident and firm in your decision. While the cabal, Zula included, consider you to be their leader, the purple feathered female has been captain of the ship since before it was even completed in every way but title. None have more experience leading than she.

Though a little flustered, she buckles down and steps forward, sheathing her weapon with a calm show of faith she may not entirely feel confident in. The wild kobolds do not follow suit.

"We really aren't hear for you, we didn't know you were even here until... well... just now..." Her voice does not betray any lack of confidence. "We rescued the gryphon, she was just out flapping about out on the wind not even in sight of the island. And we didn't steal the... firefruit." She has to squeeze that last part out. "They were out growing on a viney plant and we thought they might be good. Heck, those big centipede bug things 'stole' way more than we did!"

The speech isn't much moving to their leader but the others have begun looking at one another, whispering things even you can't make out.

"And the anchor... well... yeah, that's kinda on me, sorry. First time piloting a flying ship." Your navigator adds, trying to lighten the mood, paws up in a forgiving shrug.

"I don't believe you." The wild kobold growls, jabbing her spear at the air.

"Bhalxash... we should tell the Seer." One of the nearby frjals'fraendi speaks quietly. The disgruntled kobold shakes her companion off angrily, clearly intent on remaining at odds with you.

"Bhalxash, we have to tell the Seer. A falskur'guodómur is here!" Still she refuses as a second point of discontent is voiced.

"...Bhalxash-"

" Alright!" She barks, interrupting before the third case can be made, whipping her spear back with a flourish, she stabbings the butt of it into the ground; ready but without the layer of aggression displayed earlier.

It is a simple gesture but enough that you fold your wings and simply sit, calmly curling your tail around your flank. The aggravated female watches you closely but, in the end, relents to the inevitable, signaling the rest of her troupe to retreat around the camp and back toward the forest.

"You-" She points with her free paw at Zula. "-will come with us and meet the Seer. He will decide what to do with you."

While you suspect Zula's surprise at the ultimatum mirrors your own, her outward tell is infinitely more apparent. To appease the situation, someone will need to go, to be an ambassador in this unstable situation between wild kobold and your minni'sjalfur. Zula is a prime choice for the role and, since you currently need your trackers more than a navigator, she is the also most viable candidate as well.

You don't particularly like the idea of sending her out alone, but refusal will only make matters worse.

(#20) [Vote ends: 6/17 @ 6pm PT or 75% votecount] Zula will join the wild kobolds-

-on her own as a capable ambassador. [this option will change the story to be told from Zula's perspective for now]

-but you require an exchange of one of their kin to stay with you. [this option will continue the story from Athsar's perspective]

---

You can't recall the last time you were negotiating with a kobold but here you are; this island seems to have many unexpected surprises. And those mysteries are exactly why you can't give up one of your most valuable assets for nothing. If they want someone to take back to their tribe and question, you'll need one of their tribe to stay behind for the same.

"Zula will go with you, but one of you will stay behind in good faith." You speak clearly and with no uncertain terms, much to the discontent of the aggressive little kobold. "You will do fine." A great talon stretches out, pointing to a startled kobold, her white hide drawn with an intricate web of ash-black runes.

"No. This one will come with us." The Bhalxash growls. "No one stays behind."

Your eyes shift down to look at Zula who is certainly unused to this sort of interaction. During her life, no kobold has ever said 'no' to Athsar in any real context and, yet, here stands a little group ready to defy a dragon seemingly because you are a dragon.

"That is very presumptuous of you." Your snout tilts back toward the group of wild kobolds. "You are a poor negotiator and bargaining your way toward a path of conflict against a superior force you do not understand out of blind, misplaced rage. I will only warn you once; that is not the path you wish to take." A quick flicker of flame from your mouth catches them off guard, eyes narrowed to punctuate your point.

Despite this, the silver-eyed kobold glares angrily, whipping her arm in a dismissive gesture.

"NO! No one says with you falskur'guodómur." The stubborn creature looks ready to start a fight all on her own if she must and your cabal tenses in readiness when the grey bellied female steps forward.

"I will stay." The words are said with firmness though you can all but feel the underlying fear just beneath the surface. There are looks and murmurs but only one challenges the decision.

"No, Aether, you come home with us! You don't say here with that beast." Bhalxash spoke with firm indignation but that command seemed to set her companion off.

"It is not your decision to make!" The snowy scaled female puffed for just a moment before softening some. "I will be alright. Take their Zula to speak to the Seer. I will keep an eye on the dragon."

The two spoke silently for a moment longer before the discontent little kobold finally nodded with a huff of defeat. The blue-furred female nodded back and turned to step across the distance toward the other camp, though her trepidation increased with each step. It would undoubtedly be like crossing into a new world. You nod at Zula who returns the gesture, making her way out across the 'neutral ground' with a great bit more confidence.

"She will be safe here. And I expect the same treatment to be extended to my Zula as well. I have no quarrel with your people, Bhalxash, but know I will burn this island to its core in retribution should my faith in your honor be misplaced."

While firm, your words hold no malice. Their leader frowned but wisely choose not to interject her own comments into the situation. The young female crosses the line of defensively aligned kobolds with a bit of wide-eyed apprehension, starring up at you. If these creatures are descendant from the original group that splintered off over a thousand years ago, she had likely never seen a dragon before. It was impressive how cool-headed she was being overall. It made him even more curious.

With the trade confirmed, the black drake watched his navigator pass out of sight. Most of the wild kobolds were quick to scurry back to the trees while the central bulk walked at a reasonable pace. Zula never looked back though he knew she wanted to.

"Aether was it?" You thrum softly, looking down at the small female with eyes bigger than her fist. She hesitates at being directly addressed by a dragon but finally nods her head in acknowledgement. "Pleased to meet you, I am known as Athsar by your kin. Make yourself comfortable."

Interactive Storybook, [09.07.19 20:24]

"Wha-?" Her startlement causes you to raise an eye ridge curiously. "I mean, I guess I just thought I'd be a prisoner or something..."

Your chortling laughter makes her jump. By now the tension had diffused enough that the defensive line of kobolds made a casual but mindful dispersion back toward the camp. A small crowd of your officers have gathered waiting politely out of the way for you to finish your conversation before approaching. Once you've settled down, you turn and make yourself comfortable upon the patch of ground at the camp's center.

"I suppose you have tales of dragons and their dungeons and torture chambers? Most of my kin care not for such trivial pursuits; though not all the stories are unfounded. No my dear, you are merely a guest here until Zula's return and, while I must insist you remain with us until this exchange is complete, you are free to come and go as you please."

With your fore's crossed laying lazily on your flank, your appearance is much more like an oversized cat. A house-sized cat with wings and scales, but far less threatening than the appearance given off not but a minute ago. She seems dumbfounded at this revelation and it is a good first step. She was the one you heard whisper betri'vera during the confrontation and hopefully a little good will might earn you something down the line.

"And... if I were to run away...?" The white scaled kobold asks, a little more emboldened.

"Then I would be forced to put your tribe's honor in question and assume Zula's life is in danger. That would leave me little alternative but to hunt down and kill any of your tribe necessary to secure her release. Make no mistake, Aether, while I do not seek violence, I do not shy from it. Had you encountered any dragon other than myself, you would not be standing here now, and even I would have burned your entire little band to the ground had Bhalxash pressed the issue.

"But I am glad she did not." You add, bringing a wing over to nibble a slight itch along the back wing bone.

"Me too..." The blue-furred kobold mutters quietly to herself. You pretend not to have heard it.

"That is quite enough talk of gloom however, Ash is one of my closest kin and will introduce you to the others around the camp. Perhaps later I will even take you up to the ship so you can see the island from up high."

The gold-bellied red kobold steps forward cheerfully. While not previously aware of his chaperoning duties, he takes to it with instant charm, bowing deeply with an abundance zealousness. You say no more, allowing Ash time to acquaint himself with their new guest before leading her off. That leaves Ramah and Amos curious for more information, both wandering up to you while looking over in the direction of the naked wild kobold. They look up at you for guidance.

"Amos, return to the ship and fly down another five or six for the guard." Your beastmaster nods.

"Are we to expect trouble?" Your gold-scaled guard inquires, planting his spear.

"No but prudence is in order. I am unsure how they were able to slip behind us and come up the beach with such ease so watch on all sides will be necessary." You pause in consideration before continuing. "You and Ash will keep an eye on our guest at all times in shifts. With my sight as it is, I cannot watch her as I normally would and must rely on you to do so instead." He nods.

"And if she runs?" He adds.

Your first instinct is to have her killed; a kobold you cannot trust is more than useless, they are a danger to everything you are attempting to achieve. She is not only a wild kobold of a group dedicated to the hate and destruction of dragons, you laid out the terms of this arrangement quite clearly.

You could have them attempt to subdue her instead but that runs the risk that she gets away with information about your cabal and endangers Zula even further.

You could also let her go. This is certainly the least favorable option as you would lose her both as an informational asset and as leverage for your navigator's safety while simultaneously displaying an air of weakness. Normally you might have used that as an advantage; tag her with a tracking rune and use her as a beacon but, until you are attuned, even a spell that simple is too dangerous to attempt.

(#21) [Vote ends: 7/9 @ 10pm PT or 10% votecount] If Aether is not trustworthy, your guard should -

• subdue her.

• eliminate her.

• ignore her.

---

It takes you a moment to wrangle your impulses but only a moment. You know there is more to this than simple reasoning will allow.

"She is a child barely waking into a world too large for her to ever fully understand. If she causes no harm, simply restrain her and return her to the camp. Under other circumstances I might just let her go but there is too much at stake to throw away such a valuable asset." Ramah nods. You decide not to mention the other alternative you had in mind. "I will deal with the consequences afterward should it come to that.

"Also, send out a few groups to start exploring the surroundings after morning meal to return by mid-day. If our wild friends survive here, I see no reason our kin cannot do the same. See if our guest has any information about the island's dangers she would be willing to share as well."

With the short term set in motion, you dismiss the gathering and move to deal with some of the more long-term issues. You take the next hour or so to assess the celestial bodies in their current alignment and approximate a timeframe. As they get closer you'll be able to be more precise but, at present, there's still several weeks before you'll need to complete your task.

A little eavesdropping on your guest lets you know she's getting along well enough. She's clearly much more at ease around by her own kind when you are out of sight though she is always questioning your cabal for information on you. Your kin are pleased to have any excuse to tell the stranger of you and their history.

With a last check-in from your officers, you slip off to a more isolated section of the beach to begin meditating. It is difficult to focus, the arcane winds around you are turbulent as the restless seas themselves and exposing your essence to it is like baring a candleflame to a snowstorm. Stubbornly, you attempt to stand your ground and it is only after the third or fourth attempt is swept away like a hatchling batted away with a backwing that you huff and reconsider.

Your crimson eyes open, focusing on the horizon line as the dizziness subsides once more, calming your heartbeat and fanning your wings a moment to cool yourself. With a deep breath, you close your eyes once more and relax, pulling your mind inward. The outside world stretches across your consciousness, squeezed into a tiny bubble leaving infinite darkness behind.

Darkness is incorrect, it is not a thing so opaque as_dark_. Rather it is not dark, nor light, nor anything. It is pure, terrifying, unyielding nothing. You have not visited this aura since you were a young welp first experimenting with the arcane. It frightened you then and the sensation has not improved much with the melena.

However, you have the ability to overcome the_nothing_. While your body craves sensation like a drug, you are able to suppress the desire to reach out for a time. You suspect remaining here for too long could drive you mad, or worse; leave you lost in an infinite void forever cascading into the unfathomable depths. Or perhaps it would never end; perhaps this all consuming depth is your final destination that even the ancients eventually retreated to. You cannot tell and, for the time being, you are content not to find out.

The experience is deeply unsettling and dangerously addictive at the same time. As the seconds tick away, you feel the hunger for life fading. Like holding in a cough until it subsides, the desire to_feel_ and experience suffocates under the immense dilution of the void. Seconds pass as you wrap the shell of nothingness around you. Well, perhaps seconds anyway... You have no way of understanding the passage of time in this place, no heartbeat to count, no breaths to pass, no sensation of the world. It could be moments or lifetimes between thoughts.

It would be easy to let go of it, to slip into the core of your essence and drift away. No schemes or problems, no danger or fear or pain...

A bolt streaks through your senses like an opalescent raindrop across the glass pane of your mind, fast as lightening and gone just as quickly. At first, you recoil from the sensation as if it were liquid fire across bare skin. It is some time before it occurs again, different, unique, imperfect, curious but the same. The sensation burns but you can't help but_follow_ it. It is not a thing so vulgar a thing as movement but your attention focuses upon the occurrence again and again, bending it around the shell of isolation you've cocooned yourself within.

The 'drops' of sensation coalesce in the back of your mind faster and faster, swarming across the shell of darkness before congealing into a single point that 'drips' onto you with the shocking effectiveness of a spear. Despite how hard your mind fought to hold on the senses you abandoned earlier, it now fights against the invasive intrusion into your thoughts as a flood of new sensations begins dribbling through cracks in the pure clarity you had obtained just moments before. Or at least it seems like moments... You can feel the warmth of the motherstar on your backside. Midday has come and gone while you meditated, hopefully it is the same day at least...

Your exodus from the void has left you in a state of both hyper tension and utter relaxation. You remember this sensation from all those years ago. It is not exactly pleasant but it does seem your dip into the void was successful; at least in part. You are no closer to being attuned to this place but at least you have a better understanding of the separation of energies. Your dual eyelids slip open, taking in your surroundings with a fresh perspective.

An idea comes to mind as you tilt your head down, watching your tail draw out a simple rune in the sand. The moment it is completed, the lines fracture and blur making a strange looking pit as the sand explodes with minor force.

You frown slightly; even completely devoid of magical energies, the essence of this area seeps into the spell and causes it to cavitate under the intense force. You stretch your neck, twisting this way and that, taking a moment to think. Funny how something you thought you had mastered so long ago could turn out to have such unexpected nuances.

Unfortunately the experimentation will have to wait as your ears perk to a sound you haven't heard in quite some time. Glancing back toward the camp, a great winged beast can be seen hovering about. Lifting from your perch, you turn and make a relatively quick trot toward your cabal. The creature is draconic in nature but not a dragon at all.

The grey-silver scales and massive violet wings compliment the purple mane accented by artificial rings of gold pressed into its horns. Its lack of forelimbs very quickly identifies the creature as a wyvern and its size alone tells you it is a fairly young member of its species. It surprises you somewhat; the island is not exactly small but the idea of it supporting a colony of wyverns seems unlikely.

The kobolds of your camp have gathered, quite alert at the unfamiliar wing flaps of a strange dragon. You don't think any of them have seen a wyvern, or another dragon for that matter. The beast seems to be floating around the ship, quite fascinated by suspended artificial wooden structure. Its angular head swings left and right, seemingly unconcerned with the rabblery of kobolds scurrying around in a panic. When it notices you though, the beast perks up and swoops around, making an elaborate dive like a curious humming bird.

"Ooh, you're like me!" It burbles excitedly, seemly unaware of the havoc its massive wing strokes are having on the encampment below. You stop a distance away, looking up with a critical eye as it flaps about like the energetic whelp it is.

The wyvern comes to a stop, dropping to the ground with a monstrous thud, its wide wings curling up as the smaller beast uses them as its forelimbs, leaning in curiously. Your posture remains ready but aloof. Its angular head adorns a trio of horns on either side of its head. Its striking blue eyes dart over you, hungrily taking in every detail while your calm orbs do the same, trying to recall if you've seen this species before with its stripes of violet and dark spotted rings.

"But not like me." Her words come at a realization of the differences between your anatomy. You aren't sure if she has discerned the depth of the difference but at least you've been able to determine her gender while she's coming to terms with the variation in limbs.

"Betri'vera?" Comes an inquiring call from your camp.

"Wait, dragon? You're a dragon?!" Her exclamation comes with a quick shift in stature as she lowers herself into a defensive stance and bristles angrily. "What are YOU doing here?" She snaps with a low guttural growl. The sharp change is alarming to everyone but you.

At least until she lifts her tail, squeezing the long needle-like barb from its tip. You had forgotten about the stinger... You don't show much outward concern, simply standing there with a disapproving look upon your snout. You are twice her size and many times her elder but that one bit of nature's meddling makes this a much more complicated situation. On the mainland with your magic, neither the fight nor the venom would be an issue but here, as things are now, being put out a week or two from being stung is unacceptable.

(#22) [Vote ends: 8/19 @ 6pm PT or 75% votecount] You only have a moment to choose your course of action or you suspect she'll chose it for you.

Strike first - subdue her quickly before the tail becomes a problem.

Talk to her - maybe you can reason with the beast.

Ignore her - you have no reason to engage with inferior opposition.

Wait and see - let her make the first move.

---

You decide trying to avoid a confrontation is likely the best course of action. Besides, you had great success talking down the kobold 'army' earlier. And, of the two, you'd rather not fight the wyvern.

Unfortunately it seems your lack of action is not taken as civility by the wyverness for, as soon as you attempt to open a dialogue, she dives forward and throws her tail forward over her shoulder. You had forgotten how fast the wing-limbed creatures could be- her entire body swinging side to side in a serpentine motion to close the distance. Your entire body tenses and shunts back throwing gravel and dirt several meters behind you in the process as you lift to all fours to avoid the blow.

The grey wyvern knows her tail is her greatest asset and doesn't put it within striking distance of your maw, the first thrust almost a feign that would have only made contact if you had completely ignored her. Your face hardens in disapproval, limbs alert and responsive.

"This really is unnecessary." You continue but her ears don't seem to be listening as she glides in and snaps at you with a maw full of powerful teeth.

"Dragons lie." She hisses back, swinging herself to the side, trying to impale your flank with her tail.

You've not been in physical combat in quite some time. For at least a millennia or so there has been nothing remotely capable of challenging you either physically or magically other than another dragon and fights between kin are rare enough you can count them on one paw. You can feel the lack of practice in your motions too, your greater bulk lumbers about just trying to stay ahead of the much lighter and more nimble female.

It doesn't help that you are trying not to harm her as well.

"Dragons control." She exhales, leaping back with those great winged forelimbs and tries to rake your face with her hind limbs at the same time.

Your body rears up away from the strike which leaves your underside exposed enough for that dangerous tail of hers to slide up and smack your underside. Your large bulk hops back a step with a thunderous flop. That was careless of you. Luckily her strike was off, the needly tip scraping across your scales rather than getting a strike between them. But it does send a rush of adrenaline through your frame as you do a quick check of your underside to confirm.

"Dragons deceive!" The she-wyvern rattles, swinging her body side to side, propped up on her wing knuckles, trying to disorient you.

The cabal has been busily arming themselves but you hardly pay them much mind. Their weapons could be little more than a nuisance. Perhaps if you lose they could be of use in driving her off but you don't plan on losing this fight. With her next move, she jumps forward at you but the move is too obvious, to easy for you to snap at her...

Ahh, that's what it was about; a faux strike to rile you up, to get you to make a mistake. She wants to hit your neck and deliver the venom somewhere that will have a hard and fast effect. Hmm... Two more conservative lunges and you've given up a dragonlength of space. She thinks she's winning. You can almost feel her smugness as those massive wings swoop forward, stopping her forward motion and swinging her tail like a pendulum at the same time.

"Dragons-yeik!" The young female finds her taught short in a cry of surprised terror as a bright gout of dragonflame bursts forth from your muzzle, both cutting the wyvern's maneuver rather unceremoniously short and sending her tumbling to the ground in a thunderous twist of limbs. The opportunity won't last long so you don't waste it.

Two steps forward closes the distance and with a quick little motion you have a hind leg pinning her tail and your foreclaws pressed against her throat. With the bulk of your weight on her wing, getting free would require significant damage. You can feel her try though, whether it be hubris or surprise, you growl low in warning and squeeze tighter.

"No, stop!" A small voice calls out from across the field. The wild kobold is bold for interrupting the two fighting beasts. Or foolish, you haven't decided which yet.

"Aether run! It's a dragon." The wyverness croaks out, squirming futilely. Much more and you'll be forced to... incapacitate her.

"Of course it's a dragon you silly wyrm." She speaks dashing across the open space. You snap at the ambitious little creature with a hackle raising hiss. You've had quite enough of all this insubordination. She stumbles to a stop but is just as defiant as you've come to expect. "Don't hurt her, she's just a whelp."

"Hey-" The little female beings protesting until you squeeze again.

"I had not intended to harm her." You scowl, glaring down at the other winged creature. "However, I was not given much choice after being assaulted."

"She won't hurt you, just let her go." The small two legged inhabitant speaks rather matter of factly.

You consider quipping back but mincing words with a kobold is both a waste of time and, frankly, beneath you. You also considered just immolating her but, thankfully for her sake, you quickly decide against that course of action. There's still the matter of the wyvern problem. You'd like to believe Aether but that tail is too much of a risk.

(#23) [Vote ends: 2/26 @ 6pm PT or 75% votecount] To neutralize the threat you could:

Require her to swear not to engage you again. You've no reason to doubt her word... yet.

Take care of the tail. Temporarily disabling it shouldn't cause her any lasting harm.

Find an alternative means. There are always creative solutions to problems, maybe you can come up with something.

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There are too many complications with 'just letting her go' in her current capacity. However, it's really only her tail that is a problem. A direct physical confrontation without that little advantage would be tremendously in your favor so if you can neutralize that part of her anatomy, there shouldn't be an issue with letting her go unscathed. You could just bite her stinger off but you doubt she'd be particularly passive about that solution.

Hmmm...

Deciding on a solution, you release her throat but not the rest of her body. You can tell she seems to be a little surprised by your retreat but your piercing blood red orbs show no sign of relenting.

"Bite or scratch and I will burn your wings off little wyvern." You warn with a puff of smoke from your nostrils. She shrinks a little at the warning.

Satisfied, you begin turning, still not letting her up but careful enough not to damage her pinned frame as you shift to the side slightly, reaching out to snag her tail in a paw. You can feel the resistance to your actions but the motion doesn't relent so she's forced to do so instead or risk spraining herself. With carefully applied pressure to the concealed venom sack in her tail plates, you coax a glob of the nearly transparent goo out of the tip.

"What are you -" Her words are cut off by a slight shriek as you hammer the needle-like bone with a steady gout of dragonflame. It's only a few seconds in length but you have to fight to hold her still while you do it.

When you finish, her twitching tail is still pulling, trying to escape your grasp but is far from successful as you examine the charred tip. The venom along the outer bone has turned into a thick charred molasses and, while the venom in the tube will be less burnt, it will coagulate into a plug that will take some time to clear itself out.

"Stopstopstop! What are you doing?!" The floundering female whines.

"Taking care of a nuisance." You respond flatly. "And if you don't stop squirming, it will be much more painful." You growl, yanking her tail out straight. She whimpers and whines but has at least stopped trying to pull away by the time you breathe out another waft of flame.

It takes a few more adjustments, heating up the bone enough to transmit the heat without cooking the venom to a boil but, after only a minute of tempering, the venom has gelled into an effective plug. Still painful to be tagged by but not incapacitating. The young wyvern's incessant crying hasn't done anything to improve your mood. Once satisfied, shift off, letting her go.

She doesn't hesitate to scamper away, crawling until righted and hop-flapping to far off beyond the other side of the kobold camp like wounded songbird. Aether follows swiftly after the young wyverness who's found sulking, keening over her blackened tail and sullied pride. The tension in your cabal begins to loosen as the two gigantic beasts separate and what passes for normality these days starts to seep back in to the camp.

"So... wyverns now...?" The crimson kobold Ash at your side inquires, looking down the beach at the other draconic beast.

"Indeed." You confirm, watching the youngling as well.

For the next few days you find it rather difficult to meditate with a sulking, brooding wyvern lurking nearby. With Aether's help, the wyvern's tail bone was cleaned up to a mostly unburned state. You were able to catch her name as well: Vaila'rahn. For an entire day, you simply rested, collecting your thoughts and, even with your eyes closed, you could feel her watching you, glaring like a viper wanting to strike but always reconsidering the consequences. Her mood seems to change immediately when with the wild kobold and then returns to being a cautious sentinel the moment they part.

On the third day, you return to the cliff to meditate and find it no less difficult with a wyvern trying pointlessly to stalk you at the forest's edge. You try ignoring her but find that small irritating part of you always on edge and alert at her presence. You can't slip into a trance potentially for hours with her looming at your flank.

"Do you plan to hide there all day little wyvern?" You speak without opening your eyes. She doesn't response; perhaps thinking it's a bluff and that you can't actually tell where she is. "If so, you might be more comfortable in the sun."

"I'm not going to be comfortable anywhere near you." She hisses from the foliage, giving up the charade.

"And why is that?" You inquire passively.

"You're a dragon." She responds, spitting the word venomously.

"And you are a wyvern. We're not all that different." That wasn't quite true, wyverns weren't any more closely related to dragons that kobolds were.

"I am nothing like you!" She bristled within the shadows.

"While it is true you neither breathe the element of destruction nor command the arcane, you do have the wings of a skyking and the essence of an ageless. You even have a kobold servant."

"RRRRLL! Kobolds are NOT servants!" She snaps, bursting out of the bushes in a huff.

Your dual eyelids slide open slowly. Now that was interesting indeed. You are unable to mediate with her looming around but perhaps she can still be of use.

"Oh? Then what do you call the kobold that you had clean your tail for you?" You taunt, watching over the cloudy horizon still.

"Her name is Aether and she's a friend! It's not something I would expect you to understand."

"Ah, so you befriend them? I assume they help you with their dexterous little paws so what do you do in return?" Your tone is just dismissive enough to be taunting. It's a delicate scale between goading her into offering unintended information to make it seem like she's winning the verbal sparring match and keeping her from becoming angry.

"I protect them from evil things like dragons!" She barked.

"So I'm not the first?"

"First to come try and steal the island." Her cold eyes tried to burn a hole through him. Unsuccessfully of course.

"So if I am the first dragon to arrive then there couldn't have been any other threats to protect the wild kin from other than another wyvern."

"No! There aren't any other wyverns and the island has lots of bad things I keep away from the village!" With her pride at stake, she was quick to defend it.

Interesting.

"You? What could you even protect this 'village' from?" Your jab seems to work as she puffs up like a blowfish.

"I protect them from all sorts of things like the Nighthowls and Faeryes. I was even trying to hunt down the serpent shade that lives in the island's shadow before YOU showed up..." She concluded with a huff, thumping her tail on the ground.

Hmmm... That's perhaps the best collection of information you've gotten since you arrived in this place. You'd like to pry for more but you're not sure how much more she will endure. You could continue pressing to see how much information you can get out of the youngling now or try for a longer and more controlled approach. You might be able to get more out of her in the long run if you work her slowly but time is not your ally and it may be days or even weeks before you can get her to openly answer questions- time you don't have.

Then again, you need to resume trying to attune to this place and either option is sure to waste a considerable span. You might be able to chase her off or at least get her to go brood at the encampment.

(#24) [Vote ends: 3/2 @ 6pm PT or 50% votecount] To gather more information or resume attunement?

Goad the wyvern into giving you as much as you can get - a small but critical gain in the game.

Try to win the wyvern over - a potentially larger payoff at the greatest cost of time.

Chase the wyvern off - a quick solution that will garner results one way or another.

Convince the wyvern to leave - A peaceful solution that may or may not work.

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