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reliquiaenfr · 7 years

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Formation of the Assembly

“Housing for the beastfolk is impossibly tight at the moment; we need some sort of construction for them. Unless it’s alright for them to clear spaces as they need?”

“With new mouths to feed – familiar now, not just visitors and extra hatchlings – we’re sorely low on supplies. We absolutely must send ambassadors and traders to gather more resources. Osprey’s garden isn’t enough at the moment.”

“Hunters are still being hassled by beastfolk; this peace we’re supposedly establishing with them doesn’t seem to have gotten around yet.”

“It’s worse than that! Even though the lockdown is over, many of us still can’t get far from the lair without being troubled by beastfolk who either don’t know we’re friends, or don’t care. We need something more organised to work through this.”

“Something odd has been happening recently; it’s like Anthelion’s barrier is acting up. Heaps of dragons have been talking about the weird tingly sensation and some of the visitors mentioned an almost ominous feeling when they arrive, it’s scaring folks, we have to get this sorted.”

“Tarryn released one of her viruses into the water I guess. All the hatchlings have thick purple blotches. They think it’s funny!”

Even including just the permanent residents, the Reliquary was pushing eighty dragons by this point. And with the recent inclusion of dozens of beastfolk, all with individual needs – new and challenging ones that no dragons had considered before – the lair was overtaxed. Its resources thin from being so withdrawn recently and everyone was running low on patience. Though many of the residents who’d been with them longer knew better than to ambush Venin alone to talk about their problems, even being cornered with Denara as backup had grown frustrating.

“We can’t keep going like this, Denni,” Venin huffed, pacing restlessly across the leaves in the darker parts of the forest. “The two of us can’t field all these problems. Not and come up with solutions that everyone is happy with.”

“Would you stop?” Denara laughed. “You’re giving me conniptions.”

He huffed again. “When you talked me into this nonsense this is not what I had in mind.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh yeah? And what did you have in mind? A nice quiet five dragon lair somewhere without interaction with anyone else?”

“Exactly that, yes. How about we try that?”

“Or…” she began, sing song. “And hear me out: we try fixing the problems we have now.”

His crests ruffled, shaking with his shoulders as he shuddered dramatically. Only Denara ever got to see him so casual with his words and behaviour. It was a privilege she quite enjoyed. “That sounds like a disaster.”

“I didn’t say you and I had to be the only ones working on the issues.”

Venin paused in his pacing. The tassels on his mask swayed as he tilted his sightless gaze in her direction. “What do you mean? Who else would be involved?”

Denara swished her tail around to brush reassuringly against his. “We have a lot of dragons now, and many of them have been with us a while. Some of them even have specialised areas of expertise. What I’m saying is that maybe we hand all duties pertaining to protecting the lair and hunting for meat over to Norok.”

His head jerked back in an almost offended motion. “She’d start a war with the beastfolk in ten minutes.”

“You’re forgetting that she has Daeddrin,” she pointed out. “He’s very good with plans and keeping the peace. Also Eodri is with her now; he at least does not want war with his own peoples. Give her time and a little credit.”

For a good long minute, Venin turned that idea over in his head. Denara watched him carefully, noting when his shoulders relaxed a little and the tuft on his tail flicked gently in a way she knew meant that he wasn’t stressed anymore.

“Alright,” he conceded, turning fully to face her. “So Norok gets free rein to protect the lair however she sees fit. That solves a few of our problems, but not the issue of how to field all the issues residents have in ways that most are happy with.”

Denara sat back on her haunches, one claw running carefully over the surface of her pearl. “Well. Our dilemma is that there are a lot of dragons and only the two of us. What if we had more dragons to hear out the problems? More minds means more angles.”

“More arguments,” he grumbled.

“Or we hear out more solutions to a problem and can therefore solve it in everyone’s best interests?”

“That’s optimistic, Denara.”

She sighed. “Look, we all have our different strengths. And I’m not saying we should put Tarryn on a council of any kind, nor our troublesome daughter. But it might be good to include Winter and Inerri, perhaps Cross?”

After a beat he added, “Feldspar has the ear of the beastfolk.”

“Right!”

He hesitated, the twitch in his tail more irritated this time and Denara knew that if he were any other dragon he would be making a distasteful face. “A… council?”

“To help run the lair. To delegate tasks and keep everyone from bringing all their little issues to you.”

It took him another long moment of stillness. Then he sighed again, clearly relenting. “Alright. Let’s see how this goes.”

She knew he wanted a proper heir, a dragon to truly inherit the clan’s leadership position. No matter if they created a council; Denara knew that everyone would still see him as their leader, the one in charge. How that had come to pass when he was so reluctant and grumpy about it was anyone’s guess.

But still, steps must be taken. Little ones, stumbling and unsure, naturally.

Creating a council did not come easy. Nor was it quick or without detractors and obstacles. For the most part, the dragons she and Venin had concluded would be a good fit for such a task were pleased to find they could help the clan. (Norok excepted, the only reason she agree was because, “Well, no one else will do it right.”)

No, the two biggest problems were first, getting everyone into a setting and mood to talk out the issues at hand. And second, keeping the beastfolk placated. There were no beastfolk on the list of councillors and that was cause for frustration. Denara understood where it came from, of course, but until they knew which of the familiars in their clan would be of benefit in a discussion like this, she thought it best – safer – to keep them at somewhat of a distance. The inclusion of Feldspar as ambassador to the beastfolk and Bryn as his companion were a small step, but hardly enough to satisfy them completely. Understandably.

Winter, in his capacity as an advisor, often got side tracked during discussions and could babble for ages if he got excited. This annoyed Norok who would proceed to get waspish and snappy with him, occasionally she would simply leave, hindering anything that might require her input. Conversely, Inerri and Seven were, both, too softly spoken, too quiet and ready to let others talk over them. In Seven’s case that was an expected hurdle, but Inerri had always been quite willing to offer insight when it had just been her, Norok, Venin and Denara. So perhaps it was the larger setting or that there was perhaps more riding on the decisions they came to.

Whatever the case, they had many problems to iron out among themselves before any real progress could be made. Denara found herself playing mediator to any number of disagreements between them too, not just the other residents. And, of course, no sooner had they figured a solution to one issue than another took its place.

It didn’t take them long, really, to conclude that even with a council, there were some things simply overlooked.

Oh, some things were sorted and properly delegated, sure. Things such as appointing Seven and Crossfire to handle any questions or concerns from visitors, which freed up the others for other issues. And they took to their jobs so well, Crossfire even went so far as to voluntarily act as an ambassador to other clans. The formation of some of their strongest alliances was thanks to him.

Feldspar’s work with the beastfolk and other creatures of the lair was equally well handled. Between him and Bryn communication became a lot smoother and more honest.

But then there were the witches of the lair. That problem folks kept commenting on about how the lair felt funny could be neither substantiated nor fixed. If indeed there was anything to fix. The lair’s use of magic had increased drastically since they began and it often resulted in unforeseen issues, the kind that would throw a damper on other plans or make travellers vaguely uncomfortable.

They all sort of silently agreed to ignore any magical weirdness that arose. If it wasn’t killing anyone, then it wasn’t an emergency.

And if mysterious deaths did start occurring? Well. They all sort of assumed that was a bridge they’d burn when they got to it.

They did burn plenty of bridges too. Merchants who stopped trading with them because of their peaceful agreements with the beastfolk and clans who realised the Reliquary maintained a pacifistic nature despite having capable warriors. They lost several residents, even, to choices the council made in the beginning. But at least they left and didn’t start a coup.

Eventually, the council gained traction and figured out how best to handle situations and make decisions amongst themselves. Practice, and all that.

But as time passed, the beastfolk and familiars of the clan demanded more than just a representative (and a dragon at that) to speak for them. They wanted to be heard themselves.

And didn’t that take some doing.

#flight rising #clan lore #chapters #aaand this is the last of the rewrite #it's all new seas from here on out #i did this one last bc it was hard lol #do people even read lore or???#yeah it's all for my benefit #w/e

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