[History Lesson Story Contest] The Dragonflights

[Yichimet]

The Scourge are defeated. We may always fight the last pieces of their swarm, but the nightmare is ending. We turn again to face our old enemies, so we tell our stories about them.



The dragon flights are those strange tribes that we may sometimes hunt, and sometimes hunt with. They gather in their giant temple in Dragonblight in a strange council of elders, and we can only hope they do not plot against us. The red flight could seek revenge for their slavery to the orcs; the blue flight is still a possible danger to the world; the bronze dragons, too, have their secrets; the greens are being driven mad; and the black dragons are known to us all as killers and double-tongued liars.

But we all have our tales of the dragons. I want you all to tell me your story of dragons, and I will learn it and tell it to all in the future so we can remember these secrets and so be stronger against those who might be our enemies.

~Yichimet the Seer, Keeper of the Mandate

(( This is a story contest! There will be a prizes for the contest. The prizes will depend on how many people enter. If I can get ten or more different players (not characters by the same player!) to enter a story in this contest, there will be three prizes. Less than ten, there will be two. If ten people enter, the prizes will be: 1st, a [wowitem]Primordial Saronite[/wowitem]; 2nd, a [wowitem]Glacial Bag[/wowitem]; 3rd, an epic gem of your choice. If less than ten people enter, it will be the [wowitem]Glacial Bag[/wowitem] 1st, gem 2nd. (I'm hoping this gives you motivated people a reason to encourage your equally creative but less motivated friends to join the contest.)

Starting Points/For Reference:

The dragon lore for this game is fairly rich. Consider the following:

• The WoWwiki page on any of the dragonflights: the reds, the blues, the blacks, the bronze, and the greens.
• The WoWwiki page on the Wyrmrest Temple.
• The WoWwiki page on the Demon Soul.

There are also several out-of-game sources of lore you can read for this: Day of the Dragon and Night of the Dragon are two Warcraft novels specifically about dragons; the manga series The Dragons of Outland is about exactly that; and even the Sunwell trilogy will give you some more lore about dragons. Go nuts! Use these ideas as starting points for your own character's story with the Flights.

Rules and limitations:

1. You may work together and present something collaborative along with other Grim, but you may need to split the prize between you if you decide to do so.

2. Any form will do--text, art (if you would rather draw than write), verse, some combination.

3. We are Grim or Grim-related characters--keep it Mandate relevant if you can!

4. Keep it to an R rating. As long as it's acceptable in a public movie theater, it should be fine.

5. Submissions can be made through a post in the Gallow's End (ideally, respond to this thread!) or by PM to me sometime before the deadline, which is July 11th by 11:59 PM.

6. BMR alts are allowed to play, especially if their back story is more fitting for the contest.

[Yichimet]

(( Bump--unless you have some awesome in with the Bronze dragonflight, you probably weren't going to get the story in on EITHER of the two submission dates I originally posted. Correct date is now up. ))

[Yichimet]

(( Bump bump--Ruby Sanctum in a week or two. PLENTY of time to narrate your latest misadventures with one flight or another.

Also, special Yichimet-sponsored prize goes to the best Bronze-inspired headache-inducing tale of logical loophole time travel that, when parsed, makes sense. AAAND...go. ))

[Leyujin]

       The proto-drake swooped and soared through the clouds, as a rebel yell tore from a troll’s throat. The whoops and hollers of the troll warrior mixed with occasional bellows from the drake as it bucked and twisted, obviously irritated with its loud passenger. Having ridden for much of his life, Leyu’jin treated the experience not as a terrifying ordeal but an intoxicating challenge. The Skymane had rode wolves for time immemorial, and even children knew how to ride a wolf bareback. Having left almost as a teenager hadn’t dulled Leyu’jin’s skills, and once he had earnt the gold had acquired a frostwolf from Orgrimmar. Eventually, as his renown grew, he sought out and learned from a wyvern trainer how to ride a creature that flew through the air rather than sped along the earth.

None of that could’ve truly prepared him for this, of course. The proto-drake that Brann Bronzebeard’s crew had gifted to him was several times bigger than his wyvern, and more than that, his old ride had been specially trained by a Shu’halo wind master. While nominally tame, the draconic creature was still unused to a rider, and made every effort to impart that to the troll by trying to throw him off to a sad and violent end as a blotchy red stain on the ground. Leyu’jin just kept hanging on happily, shouting until his voice became hoarse. Eventually, the proto-drake tired as well, finally submitting to the orders of the reins. They both landed on one of the more stable crags populating the Storm Peaks, staring out over the vast expanse of mountainous summits. Leyu glanced at the skyline, with its constant population of lightning and storm clouds flickering on the horizon and chuckled. “Almighty Shango be real present ‘ere, ain’t e?â€

[Mohan]

The snow at the foot of the temple hid nothing of where the drake had fallen, yet showed little evidence of which the direction the beast had fled.  An unskilled tracker would unlikely be able to follow the trail.  This tauren, however, was not an unskilled tracker.

The drake had flown too close to the temple while Mohan was conducting business with Lord Afrasastrasz, its savage roar shaking the very walls.  Insolent beast, he thought has he notched an arrow to his bow.  The hunter took careful aim as the drake wheeled away and loosed the arrow just as the beast was catching an updraft.  His aim was true.  A shriek of pain rang off the temple walls as the arrow pierced the drake's wing at the middle joint, causing the beast's upward swing to quickly turn downward.  A smirk crept to the hunter's lips as he watched his prey fall to the ground far below.

To an untrained eye, it would have appeared as if the wounded drake had simply vanished.  Mohan's skilled eyes scanned the disturbed snow for any signs of the drake's departure.  He found what he was looking for.  Leading south from the landing point, the snow had been swept side to side.  Clever beast, he thought. It is covering its tracks with its tail.  Mohan would not give up on this quarry.  He had the trail and he would see this hunt through.

The trail lead due south, toward the Azure Dragonshrine, for an hour or so until the tail swipe pattern in the snow suddenly ended.  The trail, however, was not cold.  To the left and right of the trail were small snow drifts, as if made by gusts of wind in opposite directions.  Wing buffets.  The beast has taken to the air again.  Not to be defeated, Mohan whistled sharply and scanned the skies.  An eagle swooped down and landed on the hunter's outstretched forearm.  "Far Eyes.  Fly, friend, and I will see what you see."  The eagle took flight again as the Hunter's Vision took over.

Far Eyes soared high on the winds over the Dragonblight, going south again toward the shrine.  Flashes of arcane lightning lit up the sky over the host of drakes and dragons.  Through the eagle's eyes, Mohan saw his quarry.  On a high, rocky outcrop on the outskirts of the shrine, the wounded drake rested, the familiar white feathers of the arrow still protruding from its wing.  A blink of the eagle's eyes and Mohan was once more looking from his own.  He mounted up and once more headed toward his prey.

As Mohan neared the shrine, the very air crackled with arcane energy and floating discs loomed overhead.  The hunter dismounted and climbed the rocks surrounding the sacred ground of the Blue Dragonflight.  He spied the wounded drake to the west and settled in between two large stones, making sure to be out of sight of the drakes and dragons flying above him.  His bow strung, Mohan notched another arrow and took aim at the unaware drake.  He was farther away than at the temple, and the wind was more alive here.  Winds guide my hands and strike true.  Mohan breathed deeply as he was about to loose the arrow.

Something was wrong, though.  From a distance, the sound of beating wings grew louder, yet the hunter saw nothing in the air around him.  Mohan turned back to the wounded drake and again took aim.  Then, from the corner of his eye, a massive blue dragon materialized from the air, a dominating roar nearly deafening the hunter.  In a desperate act, Mohan fired the arrow at the dragon, striking it in the chest.  Yet the dragon did not even flinch.  As the dragon's head reared back, Mohan's eye widened in terror.  As the dragon's blast of coldflame sped toward him, the hunter lept back off the rocks, escaping the blast by mere inches.

Mohan bounced bodily off the rocks, coming to a stop finally on the soft snow outside the shrine.  Groaning, he lifted himself to his feet and gazed back up at the dragon, now perched on the rocks above.  As the dragon roared victoriously, Mohan turned away and mounted up.  A careless predator becomes the prey, he thought as he shook his head and turned north toward the temple.

[Yichimet]

(( Closed! Thanks for the entries guys. Next one should be posted soon! ))