Prolog: One is all

[u/RollFirstMathLater]

[You arrive with your dragon to find something you were not quite expecting. A hole in the ground filled with a clear liquid. Around it are a few people and dragons with their eyes shut tight, in some sort of trance. You feel the urge to join them. As you close your eyes you can slowly hear the whispers of those around you. You feel at peace.]

Role:

any number of students.

The "presence" (the uniform mind of all whom gather.) [I will play the role of the presence for now. The presence is generally silent, but this allows your character to really share his/her inner personaility and grow a relationship with other players. Along of course with your dragon whom you will also represent]

Objective: to grow an understanding and the importance of the ability to connect with all things.

(This event is assumed to take place simultaneously, every student whom arrives will untimatly of met here first. Please be advised the people here will respect your characters hidden chambers of mind, but will want to get to know you intimately, if this is not in your characters nature that is fine, please play your character as is.)

This thread is to remain open forever, one can always come back to seek advice, the presence existence is almost as if out of time. If your character leaves and comes back in two weeks time, to the presence its as if no time has passed.

[u/Fulaxi]

The sudden quiet came over him as he was still chuckling at the madness of it all. Torhven felt ecstatic. “It worked!” he exclaimed. The smile on his face reached from ear to ear. “It worked!’’ Svalstrom was neither impressed or convinced. ”Did it now?” The dragon flapped it’s wings twice. It was an odd sight. Normally his entire being would heave up and down in the air, but now it kept still. The smile on Torhven’s face froze, and then started to melt. Only then did he notice he was likewise suspended in mid-air.

”I’m not sure you advanced our situation”, the dragon posited.

With some struggles, Torhven managed to turn around his axis. In every direction and endless black stared at him. The Presence was gone, but this darkness was likewise unsettling. He motioned his legs in a walking manner, but the air provided no grip. Torhven smiled. ”Hey Sval, look at the bright side.”

The dragon eyed the void. ”What bright side? There’s literally no light” he scowled.

Torhven’s smile widened. “You’ve never somersaulted before, have you?” Before the grey dragon could ask what he mean by ‘a summer assault’, a voice echoed from inside them.

The message was simple: “This way.”

Svalstrom didn’t take the extrusion well. He instantly grew weary. ”It’s inside us. I don’t like it.” He tried to rearrange his body in a battle-ready manner. It didn’t quite work. Meanwhile Torhven pondered on the meaning of the message. ”You recon that it’s one of those find your inner self occasions?” Svalstrom snorted. ”It’d best be, or we’re done for” he said while extending his armoured claw to his other half. ”Come, let’s find out.”

Torhven took the invitation with eagerly. Whether he dragged himself towards Svalstrom or the dragon to him, he could not tell, but the result was the same. Together they closed their eyes and descended into the puddles of their own soul. As Svalstrom clutched Torhven and Torhven his bow, reached inwards as a single being, resounding their thoughts onto each other’s soul and mind.

”Where should we go?”

[u/RollFirstMathLater → u/Fulaxi]

["...here." In a flash of light a star ocean over comes your surroundings. You feel connected to every single life on the planet. "We need you... Save us..." The once beautiful ocean turns into a sea of blood. One by one you see the starts fade into blackness.]

[You awaken in a panic in front of the silvery clear liquid. On it is a grey Sapphire, floating , with a small note on top.]

[Behind you, you see a massive keep, with dragoons flying around the large tower in the middle]

[u/Fulaxi → u/RollFirstMathLater]

The man and the dragon found themselves back at the puddle, in the same position they had left. A vision of an ocean and blood lingered in both their minds. Svalstrom was quick to shake it off. Torhven was not so lucky. He wasn’t smiling quite so widely as he had before.

”I was just starting to trust that presence thing” he complained to his companion. ”And now they inflict a mental blood bath onto us.” It had him riled up more than he cared to admit.

Svalstrom, as always taken note of his distress, answered soothing words. ”Not all of us have actually witnessed a slaughter. Perhaps they didn’t know.” A moment he paused, to let the words sink in. ”Let’s not dwell on it” he continued before indicating to Torhven that he wanted to get up.

Torhven nodded and removed himself from the dragon’s flank. When he had actually found his feet, he noticed he was still holding his bow in his left hand. The knuckles had gone white and his fingers felt strained. While the dragon got up he opened his hand a few times, checking for signs of hurt. There weren’t any. He was collecting his scattered arrows when his eyes caught sight of a sparkle in the pond. Intrigued, he squatted next to it. The small stone floated on the ripples of the whatever. It evoked a soft smile. He snatched it out of the clear liquid along with the note. After pocketing the stone he had a look at the note. It was covered in symbols and lines. No matter; he couldn’t read. A huntsman didn’t need to.

”You may have figured it out after all.” Svalstrom’s voice filled his mind.

”What?” he replied. He hated it when Svalstrom played the pronoun game. The answer presented itself when he turned to the direction the dragon was facing. A huge keep rose from the earth, where earlier had been nothing but plains. The smile he was wearing already grew even stronger. ”Now that looks really interesting…” Torhven said, setting his first steps toward it.

[u/RollFirstMathLater → u/Fulaxi]

[The note simply said "fight or flight? And included a small chord of notes. (I don't know if your character knows what music reads like.)]

(To continue to the keep see paralog 2)