Published by: The Santae Team
The Dragon Flock's Destination
Vespera, with the map laid out in front of her, was referring to Silvershade's most recent report of dragon Minimal locations and marking them down. The map's surface was cluttered with a dense pattern of markers, swirling in a cloudy shape across Valaria and Aleriea.
"That's the last of them so far," Vespera muttered aloud as she nudged the final marker into place. She stood and stepped back so she could look at the map altogether and assess the data from Silvershade and the Adventurers.
"That's odd," she said. "Orion, come look at this!"
Scholar Orion put down his translation work and walked over to assess the map. "Yes, Vespera?"
"Look," Vespera pointed to the map. "If all of this information is correct, it looks like most of the dragons are pointed right here! Could they be coming to Halo Haven?"
"Hmm." Orion leaned down to look at the map more closely. "We certainly have seen a lot of dragon Minimals in the skies here, but not so many that I'd think every dragon in Santae is coming here. Let's have a look outside, shall we?"
Vespera and Orion made their way back to Skybound Outlook, one of the best vantage points for sky-watching in all of Halo Haven. Instead of turning their attention to the Ascendants Shrine, as they had every time they visited here recently, instead they looked out at the clouds and horizon.
A dense flock of dragon Minimals was diving and weaving around. Vespera resolved to try and watch them more closely. She picked out one speck: A single dragon to follow in its flight. Vespera watched closely as the dragon Minimal flapped upwards, performed a flashy spiraling turn through the air, and then dove downwards.
It swooped down, closer and closer to the level of the Outlook -- and then it disappeared! The dragon Minimal had completely vanished from sight.
"What?" Vespera gasped. "Orion -- try watching a dragon Minimal when it gets close to the edge of the Outlook."
"Oh!" Scholar Orion said after a moment, startled. "It vanished!"
"There must be something hidden here!" Vespera said, excited. "This has been the dragons' destination all along, but we couldn't notice -- because wherever they're going is invisible!"
"An invisible structure...or a magical portal..." Orion was muttering theories to himself. "This is fascinating. And I suspect I know what must be done to reveal the secrets of the magic here."
Scholar Orion swept a hand back toward Ascendants Shrine, which was still gleaming with a swirl of incipient magic thanks to the single Dragon Orb placed upon one of its pillars. "We must discover the remaining Orbs. If we could fully activate the Shrine, I am certain we could learn more about the nature of this invisible phenomenon."
As Orion looked at the first Orb upon its pedestal, he noticed a glimmer of light he hadn’t seen before. Just below where the Orb was nestled, a small etching in the shape of a dragon was glowing with magical light.
He looked closer. The two pedestals next to the first had glowing symbols too! One was etched with a marking that looked like a fishing rod. The other had an etching in the shape of a gathering pouch.
“Look at this, Vespera!” Orion called. “We must have overlooked these etchings before they started to glow.”
Vespera examined the pillars, then nodded. “This is the clue we needed. These glowing symbols must be clues for the locations of the next Orbs. Let’s ask the Adventurers for help tracking them down!"
Seek The Legendary Dragon Orbs
Now it's your turn, Adventurers! Vespera and Orion need your help to scour Santae in search of the legendary Dragon Orbs.
The first Orb is known to be carried by dragon Minimals in Herding. But now, we have a tantalizing clue as to where two more might be found!
Vespera believes gathering and fishing are the key. As you venture into these unique areas of Santae, keep your eyes open, as new Orbs being appearing more secrets will be unlocked soon. With the Ancient Echoes Festival starting soon, there are now 7 special prizes, which you can be awarded during Gathering or Fishing, these will be available throughout the festival and during the current and upcoming community events!
If you can collect enough items, it may reveal more Orbs to place on the pedestals and unlock even more of the magic at Ascendants Shrine!
Graceful Gryphons Arrive At Silvershade's Ranch
Silvershade had
grown used to the sight of flocks of Minimals overhead. The skies were
still crowded with the mysterious influx of dragons that Vespera was helping to investigate. But this morning, something a little different caught their eye.
Silvershade shaded
their eyes as they peered upwards. Their practiced eye allowed them to
quickly identify what had caught their attention. Some of the fliers
overhead today had feathered wings and tufted tails: Gryphons!
The opportunity to catalogue even more new varieties of Minimal was always exciting. Silvershade gathered
up some berries and other tools to try and tempt the gryphons closer to
the ground. Maybe it would be possible to tame them!
With materials in hand, Silvershade let
out a piercing whistle. It caught the attention of the flying Minimals
overhead, who reoriented their flight path to circle the Ranch and peer
downward. Silvershade raised one hand to show the soaring gryphons a delicious-looking, juicy berry.
"Come on down, friends!" Silvershade called
cheerfully. "I've got plenty of snacks and care to share with you."
They kept their tone friendly and light to try and entice the gryphon
flock.
A few of the gryphons needed no further invitation. They quickly peeled off of the flock and dived down to land at Silvershade's side. These gryphons had creamy white head feathers and smooth tan fur -- and they were very friendly!
"Y'all didn't take much convincing," Silvershade laughed as they shared out some berries among the Minimals.
There
were still a few gryphons overhead. From below, it was hard to see the
details, but most of the remainder seemed to have gleaming gold feathers
-- and one flashed and glowed almost as bright as the sun.
Silvershade redoubled
their efforts. They proffered even more treats, and made a show of
playing with some of the tame gryphons with enticing-looking toys. They
looked up every now and then to see whether the excitement on the ground
had gotten the attention of the remaining gryphons overhead.
Some of them had circled lower and lower. Slowly but surely, a pair of sleek golden gryphons were descending!
Finally they alighted delicately just within Silvershade's
arm's reach. They gently extended a berry to each golden gryphon in
turn, and the two new arrivals delicately nibbled them with their sharp
blue beaks.
"You wanted to make me work a little harder, huh?" Silvershade remarked affectionately.
There was just one gryphon left overhead, and it showed no sign of landing anytime soon. This was the one with brilliant fiery feathers; Silvershade could see the occasional trail of sparks bursting from the edges of its wings.
They could tell: This gryphon was very rare, and very aloof.
Silvershade kept
one eye on the fiery gryphon as they continued their workday around the
Ranch. Every time they caught the gryphon swooping lower, they paused
to show it a ripe berry or show off an enticing plushie or toy. It took
nearly all afternoon, but after a while Silvershade was sure: The Minimal was descending!
Finally, it happened. As Silvershade was
feeding the Minimals on the Ranch their evening meal, they saw a fiery
spark descending out of the corner of their eye. The flame-colored
gryphon dropped to the ground and folded its bright wings against its
back, tail lashing as it gazed at Silvershade with consideration.
Now that it was closer, Silvershade could see that this creature was not like the others. It had a sleek coat of feathers and a sharp beak, like a gryphon. But it also had two pointed golden horns, and the shape of its lashing tail was distinctive...not to mention its fiery magic. Silvershade was sure: This was a dragon hybrid!
Silvershade dropped
into a crouch to appear less threatening, and held out the very rarest
berry they had saved all day. They held their breath as the Minimal
flared out its wings again -- was it about to leave?
No -- they were in luck! The fiery creature darted its head in to accept the treat and gulped it down.
It had taken all day, but Silvershade's Ranch had a whole flock of friendly new residents. The gryphons -- and their one dragon-blooded companion -- curled up in a colorful pile together to sleep as night descended.
Griffonix, Glimmerclaw, and Flarebeak are now available in Herding!
Housekeeping Update: Word Filter Implemented
To protect the safety and comfort of all visitors to Santae, we have now implemented a word filter across the site. Filtered words will not be permitted in any field where you can enter text -- like pet names, or in forum posts.
Santae is PG-13 community. Posting inappropriate, offensive, or explicit content has never been permitted on Santae according to our Terms of Service. The new filter is simply another layer of protection and moderation to help ensure inappropriate language is not posted or shared.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to being a safe, welcoming community for Santarians of all ages!
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