Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Summer Soiree: Dragontear Lake (CLOSED)

"Hm? Oh, okay," Bailey watched as the Dragon spread her wings and disembarked from her back. "I wonder what's goi-"

And that's when Bailey caught sight of the heavily armoured man beginning his descent into the lake. Where did he come from? He was clad with metal, something she usually only saw in-

"OH NO! THE COMMONWEALTH!" Bailey shrieked, suddenly splashing about like a boat heading into agitated waters. "MOTHER!"

She did not swim to shore, feeling it would have been safer to keep some distance between the (mistaken) intruder. Winifred, on the other hand, was handling the situation on her own- in a much calmer fashion, might I add. Removing her hat, she suddenly pulled a long crooked staff out from the inside, and after twirling it around, thrust the tip of it at the water, causing an invisible force to push the water away, leaving Theo completely exposed in the open air.

"Now, hold your horses, sonny," Winifred furrowed her bushy gray brows, taking a few cautious steps closer. "Who are you and where did you come from?"

She caught a glimpse of the pendant. She made extra sure that the pendants would not be sent out to any of the Clockwork Commonwealth's territories- so despite his appearance, her tension seemed to ease. "Hmm. You ain't with the Commonwealth, are you...?"

Still pushing the water aside with magic, Winifred turned to the three new guests with a relaxed smile. "Ohohoho! Forgive the sudden outbursts! Welcome to Dragontear Lake, y'all. Make yourselves at home! Please do help yourself to the food n' refreshments over there, or go for a swim in the lake. I'm just doin' a... security check, is all."

She turned to holler at Bailey, who was looking rather anxious. "False alarm, kiddo! I think! He's not with the Commonwealth! Least, I hope!"

"Phew..." Bailey calmed down, her body going still. She had a look around her. "Sorry folks, I thought some bad guys had found our party. Is everyone okay?"

"What I'm doing here is relaxing and going swimming using the Mark 37, my deep sea armour." Theo flies out of the water and hovers at the dragon's level, popping open the visor on the armour. "Do you have a problem with that?" He then turns to Winnifred. "Cool your jets, will you?"

He had made it to the side of the lake and...was having a bit of trouble understanding what he was seeing, but he realized Fynn had talked about this place. A place where many things came together. Now it made sense. When he heard yelling, his hand went to his sword, only to find it not there. Right, they had taken it....

His stomach flipped, but it couldn't be helped now. He pulled his hand away and peered out to what seemed like...dragons and...a great...construct? Commonwealth?

He shook his head. He wasn't nearly bright enough to understand all of this, but he did hear the mention of food. Prior to this, he had been in a cell for days with nothing but bread and water, so blue eyes began to scan for the promised vittles and his feet were moving towards them before he could even stop himself.

"We don't, but them serpents will if you ain't careful," Winifred ceased using her magic, as Theo had flown out of the water. She interjected herself between him and the Dragon. "Forgive me, my dear, but your fancy little suit of armour there will get you in BIG trouble 'round here."

The old woman was calm, but mildly on edge at the sight of such foreign technology. "Y'all probably don't know this, but these lands are patrolled by two different factions. One of 'em is the Clockwork Commonwealth, and those folks hate magic. Say it's the root of all evil and needs to be destroyed! What malarkey..." Winifred shook her head. "My point is, the Commonwealth are known for makin' all sorts of fancy things out of metal. They're also known for their tendencies to commit territorial genocide. The serpents'll take one good look at ya and will think you're tryin' to kill them."

She took a step closer to Theo, a hand on her chest. "As long as you're not one of 'em, you're more than welcome to stay at our party. Though a warnin'- Do not dive too deep into the lake. I just don't want ya to get hurt, ya hear me? Trust me, we don't need the kiddo's round here to see someone get ripped to shreds..."

Winifred then allowed Theo to go on his way. She returned to the other partygoers, for more formal introductions. "So! I'm Winifred. That big ol' serpent in the lake is my daughter, Bailey. Who might you lovely folk be?"

"Well CENSORED! Why do I even bother?!" Theo angrily rips off his pendant and disappears.

He was at the food table by the time Winifred had finished her wisdom sharing, which he overheard thankfully. Don't go too deep? Not a problem. Tulti didn't go in the water where he couldn't touch, and especially if there were weeds in there that tickled him. He didn't like that much at all, though the lake did look refreshing. Now that he was here, he was getting warm, and he realized he wasn't very clean.

When she spoke, he already had an arm full of some fruit and bread, and was munching on an apple as he perused. Tulti was a large man, tall and broad shouldered, built for a good fight, but he had a very kind face. He quickly swallowed, looking with Winnifred, and then around to the named Bailey, his eyebrows going up. A serpent indeed! He looked back down. "Tulti." He said after he had a mouth clear of food, and gave a bow, quickly grabbing some of the treats that threatened to tumble out when he did, and he blushed a little. "A pleasure to be here. Uhm...where....where is here?"

So transfixed by staring into the lake, Nagisa was completely at ease and oblivious to anything that was going on... That was, until Bailey began to shriek and thrash about. Startled, Nagisa was knocked off of Bailey's head and plopped into the lake. She let out a little yelp of surprise at the sudden chilly dampness, but was completely unharmed. Her form quickly shifted to that of a mermaid, something that always happened when Nagisa became submerged in water, but this was so natural to her that she hardly thought anything of it, now casually keeping herself afloat and taking in the situation with calm observance. She couldn't make out the details from this distance, but it seemed there was a minor conflict going on. It seemed that Winifred was opting for the route of diplomacy, and Nagisa only hoped that the strange metal-clad figure would accept this and not get anyone into danger, himself included. Oh, and then... he was gone anyway?
Nagisa now glanced around, checking on her fellow party guests. She also addressed Bailey, giving the serpent-girl a pat on the snoot as she floated near her head. "Thanks, kid." She said sarcastically. "I needed a bath anyway." She grinned, hoping this made it clear that her wry remark was a joke and not anything passive-aggressive.

"Ahh, why you've arrived at Dragontear Lake, dear!" Winifred opted to share more of her not-quite-infinite wisdom. "Said to be filled with the tears of the most ancient of dragons... Which obviously ain't true. Just a silly rumour someone came up with. But the lake is full o' dragons. Be nice to 'em and they'll be nice to you."

Winifred placed her hands on her hips, smiling at the man's introduction. "Tulti! Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Hungry, are we? Go ahead, take as much as you need. Just don't touch the potions over there without me watchin'."

---

Whoa! Nagisa was a mermaid all along? How cool was that?! Bailey took the pat on the snout happily, without complaints. Also, she was mostly happy to see she hadn't caused too much panic for her passengers. "Heheheh, you're welcome?"

Bailey looked over at the beach, which was steadily growing more populated. Winifred appeared to be handling food. "Hey, is anyone here hungry? I could probably get something for us to eat..."

To demonstrate, Bailey's neck suddenly extended to an even longer length, as if her form was shifting and growing by the second. She craned her neck downwards to face everyone still near her. "Any takers? Requests?"

"Dragontear..." He repeated in a mumble. He looked down to his full hands and honestly...just sat on the ground on the beach to begin eating. No shame, and his stomach was growling loud enough to hear. He looked out to the lake and his thick golden eyebrows lifted. "Real dragons? Huh." He shook his head. Maybe this was all a dream, anyway. Fynn had pushed him off the turrets.....maybe he was dead.

Oh dear, that was grim. The food tasted delicious though, so that had to be real. Maybe he should have been more cautious, but Tuti truly did not believe Fynn would have sent him anywhere dangerous. He had been planning to come here himself, anyway. When he looked up, he saw the serpents neck...just extending and he slowed his chewing. "Good goodness..." He muttered and just...stared. Probably rudely, but he wasn't even thinking about that right now. He noted there was someone else out there too, but he couldn't really see.

(I’m not sure if I can catch up with everything since my post was too late with every scene happening, so I’m sorry if I missed every detail but I tried my best to catch up)

Vanille enjoyed the ride because Nagisa heard her request. She thanked Nagisa after Bailey swam out from where they started. The lake looks so clear, it was beautiful. Vanile took a glimpse to the clear water and fishes were running onto each other. She enjoyed the scenery as it was calm her. Bailey had instructed them to go swimming, if anyone wanted too, but just don’t move to quickly for not making the fish frustrated. “I think I will just enjoy the scenery then.” She said. Vanille then sit on the edge of Bailey’s back, to let her legs touched the lake’s water. The water was cold, despite the weather was warm enough for them to roam on. The Dragon was also tried to lift herself off from the water. “Be careful!” Vanille muttered to the Dragon.

It was just overwhelmed feeling for her when suddenly another people come by from the pendant. It was someone with fully armored, Vanille wasn’t sure either if he was a robot when he decided to dive deeply on the lake. Vanille quickly arisen, stand up to avoid the splash when another person with a nice lute coming between them. More and more people coming by, Vanille was confused at the moment. Just how many pendants spread around the world? Vanille clasped her hands together and surprised when Bailey suddenly shrieking about… commonwealth? Is that something dangerous?


Bailey approached the person behind the steel and warn him to not dive deeply. That person was…angry? And he suddenly disappear after ripping of his pendant. Vanille felt lost. “What was that….again.” Vanille perplexed.




Of course that felt like a cue, so Vanille raised her hand, “Me, me, over here! Can I have some bread? With jam… probably?” Vanille muttered after realized that her stomach has been rumbling. "Nice to meet you, by the way. My name is Vanille." she flashed a genuine smile to Tulti as they were being together on Bailey's back.

Nagisa noted that Vanille seemed to be alright, though very confused. That was understandable; Nagisa hadn't really been sure what was going on either. She was just glad that no-one seemed to be hurt or in danger.
"Some food could be great, actually." She said, taking a moment to consider. "You know, I'm not sure if I have a specific request... I'm not picky, as long as I don't have to eat anything that... looks like it could be my cousin. Oh, but if there's any lemonade lying around, I'd gladly take some of that."

"Well.. no, no I guess? But it's kiiiinda weird to just jump into a dragon-invested lake without even dropping by to say 'he'-" Dragon began, but before she knew it, the armored biped threw a hatchling-like temper tantrum and disappeared. "Geez, what a buzzkill.." Cowardly, too, but it was whatever. A bit disappointed by her encounter, the Dragon took to the air again and Flew back to where the white-maned shapeshifter and the other guests were hanging out. Making a relatively soft landing into the fresh, cooling water, she looked up at the enormous serpent with a subtle, gentle smile. Food requests? That was a luxury she'd never enjoyed before. "Does this place have.. um, ya know.. apples?" Since she'd left the Beacon at her den, it would feel nice to have some sense of familiarity around her. "Wait.. did you always look like that?" Floating peacefully, her wings extended to add some boucancy, the Dragon was almost startled by the strange form the blue biped had taken on. There was an aquatic tail where her legs used to be.. strange. "I think it's.. cool, and whatnot, that you guys can do this. The shifting.. of your body, I mean." She swam to turn herself around, her back to the beach and her head facing the swimming party. "Where I come from, body-shifting usually means that you're Infected. Oh, and it's not pretty to look at. Like, not at all." Was this sounding awkward? All the Dragon knew was that her heart was up in her throat from speaking so much.

Ren was able to catch a glimpse of Theo before he vanished by removing the pendant. It had been awhile since he last saw him in Trixie's bar. After he stopped going there, Azumi continued to do so and talked all about its patrons, including Theo and a few others she had grown fond of. He found it rather odd the man was mentioned as an enemy from this "Clockwork Commonwealth". Ren then thought of preventing a misunderstanding by explaining why Theo wore armor.

"Guys", He stuttered a bit as he said this, "The guy in armor, Theo, is a friend of my familiar. He's pretty kind when you get to know him. Actually, I'm from a world that uses both magic and technology equally, whether that be for convenience or for the advancement of my world."

Ren widens his eyes in fear, realizing that it may not end well for him. The mother and daughter duo might think he was one of them. He was already anxious about causing a huge misunderstanding and he only had one thing in mind to ensure and assure them that he was not a threat.

"I-I'm n-not one of them if you're asking... Logically, it wouldn't make sense for anything deemed by you as a threat to come here due to the aforementioned presence of scaled creatures that dwell in these lake, biologically classified as dragons that are also sentient, leading to my inference that their scientific name can include 'sapiens' as in 'Draco Sapiens' if any native researcher would coin the term as of now. Did I digress? I digress! It would not make sense for myself to be considered part of this 'Commonwealth' as I have only been harmless so far during the course of this party and anyway, since I have a summoned familiar meaning I'm not one of these guys who only use technology and I am completely and honestly haphazardly guessing that they only utilize technology because-

"Well said, Renny-ren!", Azumi interrupted, but Ren returned it with a glare out of embarrassment from being called such a ridiculous nickname and from preventing him from finishing his rather verbose explanation. Azumi then responded by sticking her tongue out playfully and hugging her summoner tightly.

"Have a sense of humor will you?", She laughed, "And relax! I think they get the point!"

Then, at the mention of shapeshifting, Azumi smiled happily about the topic, wagging her tails enthusiastically. Being adept at changing her form was the result of at least a century of long, and sometimes frustrating, practice. To her kind, it was a right of passage. The Mastery of transformation arts usually meant mental maturity for kitsune such as herself.

"Oh, I can shapeshift too!", Azumi said happily and surrounded herself in a cloud of white smoke. The smoke briefly moved around, rising and falling slowly until it reformed into Azumi, this time she was in a more human form. She was a young woman around her 20's in this state, a far cry from her true age. The only thing that gave her human disguise away was the presence of animal ears and one fluffy tail, in place of her usual four tails.

"Huh, you guys getting into a shapeshifting contest?", Ren said jokingly

"There's your sense of humor, I thought you forgot it in our world"

"Laugh it up, Azumi..."

Bailey was slowly drifting closer to shore, but listening in on everyone as she went along. Bailey was taking requests for food while Winifred was contemplating the armoured man's sudden disappearance.

"Ohh, I'm sure he was a nice man," Winifred nodded solemnly at Ren. "I was just tryin' to make sure he was safe out there. As willy-nilly as I was with sending them, I was extra careful that none of them pendants ended up at the Commonwealth... We might've known he wasn't one of 'em, but the serpents wouldn't be able tell the difference. With how aggressive our enemies are gettin', there was no way those serpents would've trusted him... A shame, really."

As Bailey was happily gathering food for her new friends, Winifred continued with a dreamy expression. "Bah, if only we could be the same. Magic and technology workin' together... Sounds wonderful. If only the Commonwealth could open their soot-filled eyes! All those lies they spread about magic... It's a beautiful art, and they want nothin' more than to destroy it!"

Bailey began handing out the requested food items, all on a plate being held by a long serpentine tail. She brought some meaty skewers, various fruits (mostly apples), and a bunch of glasses of lemonade. "Order up!"

She placed the platter on her back, for anyone to take their pick from it. "Hey, I made the lemonade myself! Go on, try it!"

Micaria was enjoying her time in the water, completely oblivious to what happened earlier, the disagreement with the armored man. She just managed to catch a glimpse of him leaving. And then, she saw Nagisa also jumping into the water, transforming into a mermaid.

"Wow, you are a mermaid? Thats so cool!"

Then her ears also perked up as Winifred prepared food. She quickly swam ashore to check, also spotting an another newcomer, a make human with blonde hair, mustache and beard.

"Hello there!" she greeted him.

"This is actually the form I was born in," Nagisa explained to the dragon, offering her a grin. "I've only heard the term 'mermaid' from humans - and I don't think I'm exactly what most people think of when they hear that word... but it's close enough." She continued, directing this towards Micaria but also speaking for anyone who may be curious. "My people all start out in the sea, but later in life, usually somewhere in our teenage years, we learn how to grow legs and walk around on land. Those that want to go onto land, anyway. Fortunately it doesn't cost us anything. there is a famous story I've heard humans tell, about an aquatic girl who traded her voice for legs. That is not accurate." Nagisa paused then, realizing she had been rambling, not unlike what Ren had just done... except she didn't have a familiar to cut her off. "Ah, anyway..." She shifted her position in the water and reached for one of the glasses of lemonade Bailey had procured, carefully using her tail for balance while her hands were full. "Let's see how this tastes..." She took a long gulp of the tart beverage, nodding in satisfaction and flashing a thumbs up.

"You look beautiful." she said to Nagisa in mermaid form. "I thought mermaids were only some urban legend, I didn't expect to see the real one with my own eyes!" Vanille gasped, being astonished with the mermaid. She then took the meaty skewers, its like some moral boosting for her, since she was teleported to an unknown area without any of her belongings and feel hungry aside of everything. "This one taste good. Did you make it yourself too?" Vanille asked to Bailey, before taking the lemonade and have a sip on it.

Being able to shift from one's natural form to blend in with the rest of the world.. that sounded like the solution to everything! As the now fully aquatic shapeshifter spoke, the Dragon fantasized about a reality in which she could transform into a Parasite at will, and roam the wastelands of Here without fearing for her life. Then again, Parasites did have the tendency to assimilate into each other, so total freedom wasn't a guarantee with that hypothetical power. Frankly, she just felt a little sad. Here was hellscape, really, and only now did she realize how many other folk, from other worlds, didn't even realize that the presence of lush green, fresh air and friendly wildlife was something they took for granted. She didn't spite them, not at all, it just made her feel very, very unlucky. Hopefully this lakeside party would last a little longer.. "Whoa-hey, umm.. thanks! That looks great!" Fresh apples, just like her Beacon, except that these were in such abundance that she could actually eat them. "I've actually never had a full one of these, you know!" And when she had bitten into her Beacon, her mouth had been full of blood, so she hadn't really had a proper taste anyway. A little, excited smile on her muzzle, the Dragon took a plump, grassy green apple and held it up to her face. A nice gloss on the skin, no wrinkles or brown spots. Fresh from.. whatever it was that apples came from. "This better be-" Crunch. Whoa.. In a state of total zen, floating aimlessly in the lake, the Dragon let her mouth be overwhelmed by a crisp, slightly tart and overall very sweet taste. The flesh of the apple was incredibly juicy, and its colorful skin crunched when she bit into it. It was better than she could've ever imagined.. and truly, made her curious about all the other amazing foodstuffs the bipedals had prepared! "Awww man, thank you so, so much!" the Dragon grinned to Long Dragon Girl once she devoured her apple in three ferocious chomps. "Can I try this as well? Haven't had meat in like, ages, and the last time I did it was, well.." The gleam of enthusiasm disappeared from her eyes for a moment. She'd done what she had to do. She wouldn't have been mad if someone had done it to her, if she'd died. Survival was survival. "..not nearly as good-smellin', heh."

The only thing perhaps saving Tulti from having one of those moments where he breathed really quick and felt cold and clammy was the fact that.....he was sure, in the deepest of his hearts, that Fynn would never send him anywhere unsafe or dangerous. And even more so, he was certain Fynn would not have dreamed of going to a place that was unsafe or dangerous.

It was wonderous, and....he was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything new, but he also was a simple man. That allowed him to sort of just...go with the flow. His cheeks were full of apple when the many armed lady greeted him. He just...gave a little wave, his eyes sort of permanently wide. He wasn't rude, but he also wasn't going to try and pretend that he had ever seen anything like her. Or anyone else here. It didn't even occur to him to try.

Azumi, still in her human form approached Tulti with much enthusiasm. It was another visitor in this wonderful lake! How could she resist the temptation of making a friend? A friend that Ren could make? Azumi looked back at her summoner with glee with Ren only groaning back at her before approaching Tulti.

"You too?", He asked Tulti, looking away, but made an attempt to form a friendly smile, "Lemme guess, a pendant got you here, huh?"

"Eye contact is important when talking to someone, dear!", Azumi giggled

"But Azu-"

"Everyone here has been friendly to you so far, dearie! Why must you feel so threatened or uncomfortable?"

Ren sighed. She was right. This wasn't Hill City. This is a nice place to relax. He might as well try and interact with someone socially, it would not hurt in the slightest. With this in mind, he faced Tulti with a serious expression. To Tulti, it might seem that Ren was somehow angry with him. But it wasn't the case as he was just trying very hard to make eye contact in a rather odd manner.

"Dear!", Azumi scolded Ren, "You needn't focus so much on doing such a simple task! You'll only end up intimidating the man!"

"Ah, shucks...", Ren sighed, "Sorry dude, I'm just not much of a talker. Hope I didn't come across as rude"

Azumi then smelled the apples that were prepared for everyone and took one for Ren and herself.

"An apple a day...", She trailed off to let Ren finish her sentence

"Keeps the doctors away, I get it...", Ren responded