In the gaze of the moon

[Hysteria]

What a twisted tale it is, that weaves and ducks between the lines of fate. On one side, those killed by the Moonwing’s rage, the other those who picked and gnawed at her corpse. A mother scorned, a town destroyed and a story written. Etched with the blood of innocent, the ash of embers and cries of loss.

No one would know of the cave, deep within the Twilight Mountains. The line of stones looked ordinary, nothing but rock. It was here that the lifeforce of the mirror dragon drifted. One stone shimmered, the course outline of it’s shape hardened into smooth marble. The egg cracked and a silver claw pierced the shell.

* * * *

What killed the town of Jormungstadt had perhaps saved it. The carcass of an ancient dragon was worth far more than it’s weight in gold and even a small dragon like Moonwing was ripe for the picking. Her scales were torn from her body, her bones chopped and carted away. Even the meat of her flesh was hacked into pieces and cooked. Who wouldn’t want to claim to have eaten dragon? The story of the battle twisted and grew into a thing entirely different. Stories of an angel of light, a demon of fire, a beast of fury, a man of lightning and a woman of ice and fire, they flowed like water into Alerar taverns where they freely mixed with beer and wine.

Thank you all for participating and reading.

Rewards are as such:

All participants receive quest based EXP (not GP!) to be determined by the judge’s score.

Specific items/rewards:

Storm Veritas

Ancient Dragon Scale (2 Pieces) - Value 500 gold each
The scales of Moonwing the Mirror Dragon are more vivid than even the most polished silver. They carry with them the magic of a light dragon, providing unique resistance to shadow, dark or necrotic magics.

The Cool Guy Badge - A small badge, taking the shape of a star with a circle around it (although few on Althanas recognise the symbol), this badge has a strange calming effect on people around the wearer. By flashing this badge, people are more likely to listen to what the wearer is saying, and slightly more likely to do what he or she is saying.

Revenant

The Carver
Made from ancient dragon bone of Moonwing, this large sword has a long flat blade with a cruel curve. Along the back of the blade runes have been used to try and contain the power held within, but they are only partially effective.

• Size doesn't matter - the carver changes size so that it is always a two handed sword, the same length as from the wielder’s shoulder to the ground. Be it giant or dwarf, this blade will change size to suit.
• Scrub - by running a finger across the runes that line the blade of the Carver, the magic held within is released. A dozen blades of light, replicas the same shape as the Carver, are released around the wielder. The blades twist and curve through the air, cutting through anything that they come in contact with. The effect at close range is catastrophic, with nearly everything surrounding the wielder exposed to the blades. Ten metres out, the blades start to separate, making it easier to dodge or avoid. After twenty metres, the blades disappear. Scrub can only be used twice a day, with a minimum of three (of the wielder's) posts between. The blades are considered the strength of prevalida, and are not able to be directed or controlled once released.

Jerkiest Beef Jerky - A small length of Dragon Meat, jerked to perfection. An unusual side effect of jerking magical meat, it regrows into it’s original form a day after eating. If the eater wanted to be a jerk, he or she could also spit the meat at someone. The spices and chili used erupt upon spitting, causing a small foot-sized chili-cloud that causes considerable irritation to eyes and nose should it reach someone’s face.

Moonwing's heart (Dragon’s Heart; no inherent abilities if its own)

Ioder

Dragon Finger - Dragon Bone Short Sword
The Dragon Finger has been cut down and carved from ancient dragon bone taken from one of the fingers of Moonwing. Dragon Finger’s hilt was made of the joint, and the smooth ball at the base originally joined the finger with the rest of the hand can still be seen. The magic of Moonwing has been channeled into two unique abilities, each drawing on the Dragon Finger’s original use.

• Flicker - Dragon Finger, as well as being exceptionally hard and sharp, is able to channel light energy of its original form, sending bright white energy from the tip in an extraordinary fast strobe, blinding all but the wielder for five seconds. The light takes a full post to charge before it can be used again, and a full day is needed to recharge after three uses.
• Claw - For a moment the large claws of Moonwing appear in bright white light, delivering four simultaneous slashes parallel to the ground, each a metre long and spaced half a metre apart. The effective range is five metres from the wielder and the strength equal to that of prevalida. Only one slash can be called upon a day.

Rubber Dragon Ducky - Made from the finest Corone rubber, this duck is extremely buoyant. While this might seem useless, if one has this in their pocket and is caught under a large amount of water, one will rise up quite quickly to the surface.

Karuka

Dragon’s Bane
This single sided halberd was crafted from one of the vertebra of Moonwing. The halberd was once part of the system channeling magic through her core, and its ability to create and channel magic remains as one of its key traits.

• Lasting Trace - the bone halberd still remembers the magic that was used in the final moments of Moonwing death. At the start of each day the Player picks one of four elements, lightning, fire, water or ice. The three floating bone balls behind the head are able to be flung at a target (by hand), exploding and doing the corresponding elemental damage. Only three balls can be used a day, and they must be the same element.
  • Lighting - an area of ten feet is electrified, causing intense pain and muscle spasms to anything caught within. The weakening effect lasts for two posts during which time the person could have their speed reduced by half.
  • Fire - a large explosion fills a full ten feet, burning anyone caught within. The fire itself inflicts second degree burns, but those caught within the middle two feet will also experience a the force of the explosion. A normal person will suffer broken bones in addition to the burns.
  • Water - Causes a burst of water, knocking anyone within twenty feet backwards. Those caught within the initial 10 feet will suffer the brunt of the shock wave (enough to break bones of a normal person). Within five feet, the person could suffer several severe injuries. The water itself drains away the next post after use.
  • Ice - freezes an area of five feet solid with ice. Anything or anyone caught within will be encased within. From the frozen core ice spikes shoot outwards a further five feet, impaling anything within reach. The ice lasts three posts, but weakens dramatically after the first.

The Seed - An unknown stow away from the sudden blooming of life after the death of Moonwing, this seed can bloom and grow into a straight vine reaching twenty feet into the air. After a moment at that height, small branches sprout along its length making it easy to climb. After growing it lasts four posts before it rots away. Somehow, it always manages to seed again, leaving you carrying a new seed.

Artifex Felicis

The Carver
Made from ancient dragon bone of Moonwing, this large sword has a long flat blade with a cruel curve. Along the back of the blade runes have been used to try and contain the power held within, but they are only partially effective.

• Size doesn't matter - the carver changes size so that it is always a two handed sword, the same length as from the wielder’s shoulder to the ground. Be it giant or dwarf, this blade will change size to suit.
• Scrub - by running a finger across the runes that line the blade of the Carver, the magic held within is released. A dozen blades of light, replicas the same shape as the Carver, are released around the wielder. The blades twist and curve through the air, cutting through anything that they come in contact with. The effect at close range is catastrophic, with nearly everything surrounding the wielder exposed to the blades. Ten metres out, the blades start to separate, making it easier to dodge or avoid. After twenty metres, the blades disappear. Scrub can only be used twice a day, with a minimum of three (of the wielder's) posts between. The blades are considered the strength of prevalida, and are not able to be directed or controlled once released.

The Seed - An unknown stow away from the sudden blooming of life after the death of Moonwing, this seed can bloom and grow into a straight vine reaching twenty feet into the air. After a moment at that height, small branches sprout along its length making it easy to climb. After growing it lasts four posts before it rots away. Somehow, it always manages to seed again, leaving you carrying a new seed.

[Skie and Avery]

Thread Title: In the gaze of the moon
Judgment Type: Condensed Rubric
Participants: Hysteria, Storm Veritas, Karuka, Revenant, Ioder, Artifex Felicis, and redford


Plot: 20/30

Nice and straightforward for me, especially having read the Sunwing battle. I liked seeing how the characters that had a hand in Sunwing’s demise felt when they faced Moonwing, but I kind of felt like the character that really pulled the events of the last thread into this one the best was Karuka. I absolutely wasn’t expecting some of you to be wracked with guilt over Sunwing’s death being the motivation for Moonwing attacking, but there was a great opportunity to really pull the threads together into one story that I felt was glossed over quite a bit. I didn’t dock much for this because I recognize it’s me being nitpicky and honestly the difference between two chapters in a book and two books separately so to speak.

I was slightly confused about Rev’s “love” angle. I’m not really sure where it came from or the motivation that was there, but you were consistent with the infatuation. Being clearer about how the obsession sprouted would have been very helpful.

Hysteria’s ending makes me hopeful that this will be a trilogy soon and I hope to see more repeating faces to help really pull this saga together.

Character: 25/30

Many of you showed really strong, consistent character and I really felt like I was seeing your stories and personas during the battle. Again, I felt that this was really helped by having a continuation of a few of your stories. I think that a weakness that you all had was that you could have worked together more to really have it be a group battle rather than six people all fighting a dragon at once, if that makes sense. A really fantastic example of where this did happen perfectly was Karuka shielding Revenant during the water bubble phase. You didn’t completely fall short here. You were acknowledging each other’s attacks and sometimes working with what someone else had established, but I still felt that interacting together more really would have helped these characters shine in this battle.

Prose: 20/30
Some of the battle got muddy, which I suppose is hard to avoid when you have six writers going at once. I will say that when the clarity suffered, it was never to the point where I lost the thread entirely. Some of the way that the water bubble phase was handled in the writing made it feel more like an area hurricane rather than a domed flood, and at one point someone said that they were above the dragon on a roof, but I’d been imagining the area with the spire of the church as the highest point. Little details like that were somewhat jarring, but for the most part everyone was on the same page.

I do wonder if Ioder was writing posts on a phone or tablet with autocorrect. I saw the most grammatical errors in your post, Billy, and they were all really strange ones, such as nobel (like the Nobel Peace Prize) instead of noble. Using the wrong word that was close but not even quite a homonym was consistent through your posts, and made me think of the way autocorrect on my phone will change words. If so, this is something to be especially vigilant about in the future.


Wildcard: 6/10

Karuka, in post #14, you wrote, “she ducked into an alley, leaping over crates, carts, and cowards” and that alliteration was one of my favorite pieces of technique that I saw in this thread.

You guys did a great job. In the judgment of the Sunwing thread, I mentioned that I was disappointed with the lack of epic-ness of that battle. This was epic.


Final Score: 71/100

Hysteria receives 1715 EXP
Storm Veritas receives 1724 EXP
Karuka receives 1657 EXP
Revenant receives 1657 EXP
Ioder receives 1194 EXP
Artifex Felicis 843 EXP
redford receives 250 EXP and 25 GP

Congratulations!

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All EXP and GP have been added!