Amitola Clan Lore

How curious it was.

A couple of years had passed since the Amitola clan settled down in the Starfall Isles- Mountainhome was a sprawling, beautiful home for the clan, and the New Heartwood had grown into a mighty tree at its base. The clan grew, changed, and became ever closer together with time, and Penk's perpetual friendliness towards new dragons led the clan of Amitola to be, generally, on quite good terms with neighboring Arcane clans. Home to both skilled mages and clever scientists, Mountainhome soon became a site for both technological and magical advancement and refinement- and it began to draw the attention of some peculiar, and perhaps unsavory, characters.

It was Charoite who noticed it first, looking down from her mountain-side balcony- a dim, red glow from somewhere deep in the Starwood Strand, at the tail end of sunset when the starwood trees hadn't opened up their leaves yet. She almost didn't see it at first, maybe thought it was just a trick of the light. But soon it became obvious, and it didn't simply go away. Ever the curious soul, she decided perhaps it was worth investigating. Carefully, she clambered down from her room- her stony wings weren't exactly good for flying- and wandered into the Strand, in the direction of the light. She heard the strange ambient noises of the woods around her from time to time, as though urging her to return to safety, but she pressed on. She figured that solving this mystery might be worth the risk.

But when she arrived in the spot, there was nothing. Nothing...except for the strangely-shaped red jewel nestled in the roots of a tree.

She knew this stone had to be important somehow. It seemed to be the source of the glow, pulsing dimly with crimson light, and giving off waves of strange magic that made her feel slightly ill. She gingerly took it in her crystalline claws and wiggled it out of its wooden cradle, and as soon as she had it in her hands, she was transfixed by how beautiful it was. It couldn't have naturally grown like this- it was a faceted, polished crystal, with intricate spiralling patterns carved into it, and- notably- the symbol of the Plague flight carved deeply into one side. Perhaps that explained why she felt a little nauseous being near it. She wondered what it could mean and why it was here; curious and wanting answers, she turned and went back in the direction of Mountainhome, hoping to talk about this with a more magically-knowledgeable dragon tomorrow.

"...And you said you found this in the Strand, all by its lonesome?"
"Yeah. I thought it was real weird, just sitting out there like that. It's really pretty, but also I think it's got, like, Plague magic to it. It makes me feel a lil' sick holding it."
"Interesting."

Convexity gently took the deep-red jewel into her hands, delicately pulling it away from Charoite, and immediately felt a stream of energy flow through her, a tingling, buzzing sensation in her neighboring body. Plague magic, for sure- she could detect it strongly, conducting from the gem into anything it touched. Giving a curt nod to Charoite, she set it down on a nearby table, before reaching down and carefully pulling a bottle from her bag- likely to analyze how it reacted to whatever was inside.
"This seems to be a focus of Plague magic, certainly," she said, as she carefully dripped a luminescent purple fluid onto it and watched it fizz like spilled soda. "I usually don't see this reaction on magically-mundane items; I'd hazard a guess that this is used as a sort of nexus or conductor. I don't know the exact purpose for it, but whatever it's for, it's likely the product of a powerful mage's work..."

She muttered something under her breath in a language Charoite didn't understand as she accidentally spilled a few drops onto the table. "Whoever was responsible for this, I worry a little that they might, er, notice that it's missing."
"Mm. You might be right about that one. Wonder if they'll figure out this is where it went."
"I'd hope not. We have no way of knowing if the owner of this object is hostile or not."
"Well, I s'pose we'll just have to see how that goes, eh?"

It wasn't much longer after that, perhaps a day or two, when Convexity's predictions came true. The melodic clatter of jewel against metal- a door-chime crafted by Charoite- announced the presence of an unfamiliar dragon at Mountainhome's gates. The petaled, purple Pearlcatcher, clad in bones and with claws glowing red, stood before the clan's Gaoler guardians, towering over him with their sharp ice-blue stares piercing through him.
The larger one, deep purple with fine silver chains- starwood petals woven into them- hanging off her horns and makeshift golden armor, spoke first, her voice sharp and firm. "Foreign dragon, state your name and purpose."
"Ah, right...how impolite of me!", the Pearlcatcher said with a laugh. "I am Xildryss, of the Boneyard Pack. I've come here to retrieve a very important artifact to my clan!"
Now the smaller Gaoler, dark antlers glowing with veins of gold, spoke, his deep, resonant voice rumbling through Xildryss's body. "Thank you. Would you please describe this artifact?"
"Yes, yes, of course. It's a carved crystal of garnet, about this large-" he held his paws out in front of him to show its size- "- with a Plague symbol upon its surface. My clan uses it as a territory marker and magic battery. My wife noticed it was missing and traced the magic it leaked to your doorstep, so we assume it's currently in your possession!" He gave a charismatic chuckle. "Do you happen to know who currently has it, if it's still in your lair?"
"I believe I've seen this object in the hands of Convexity," said the larger Gaoler. "You may enter. Lumen will guide you to her."

With that, she unhooked a key from one of her chains, turned a lock upon the door's opening lever, and pulled it firmly backward. The doors began to swing open with the clattering of chains and crystal-and-metal machinery, a final loud thud sounding as the doors fully opened.
"Why, thank you very much!" Xildryss trotted through the doors, shouting behind him that he wouldn't be long as they began to close once more. As the doors closed with another deep thud, the two Gaolers turned to each other.

"Colossus...did you sense the strange energy about that dragon, too?", said the larger one. "I can't quite place or describe it, but...I have a feeling that he's up to no good."
"Normally I would tease you for your silly hunches again, Petrichor, but come to think of it, I believe you may be right this time," Colossus replied. "Tell Lumen to keep a close eye on him, and to report back if she sees anything."
"Absolutely." Petrichor stepped off her post and pulled up a well-hidden side gate with both paws, stepping inside as it slammed shut behind her.



As Xildryss stepped through the foyer and into the decorated main hall, the clan's eyes were immediately on him. New dragons weren't the most uncommon occurrence, but it still drew the attention of the clanfolk to see a new face arrive. Several feet above him, a small door opened, and a small, deep blue Spiral dragon hopped down from her post and glided to Xildryss's feet, stopping just in front of him. He squinted as she looked up towards him, her primal eyes as bright as a flashlight. "Heyyy! Welcome to Mountainhome! You're here for Convexity, right?", she said, cheerfully.
"Indeed I am. I hear she has one of my clan's territory markers and I need it back."
"Yup, yup!" She turned around with a bunny-hop, her body twisting, ribbonlike. "I'll lead you to her room. No funny business, though, got it?"
"Why, of course not! I'm not here to harm anyone!"

Convexity's ears twitched at the sound of a knock at her door, and she turned from her desk to see Lumen trotting in, Xildryss following. "Here she is!", said Lumen. Xildryss nodded, and stepped into the room. The moment Convexity made eye contact with him, her ears and whiskers drooped. No, no, no, she didn't trust him, one bit. He hadn't even done anything yet, but there was just something about him, a strange, off-kilter aura that gave Convexity a chill rippling even into her neighboring body. No one else noticed it...it must have been supernatural in origin, if she alone could sense it to this degree.
"Hello, hello. You must be Convexity, yes?", said Xildryss. She nodded in response. "I was told you have our..." He looked behind her, over her shelves, and he saw it- sitting between a couple potion bottles. "...our territory marker! There it is!"
She turned to look at it, as he pointed in its direction. "...Oh. That's yours? Hm. I had a feeling it wasn't naturally grown." She chuckled a little. "I've been researching its properties. My apologies if any damage has been done to it." She picked it up off the shelf, shivering a little at the pulse of Plague magic coursing through her, before handing it off to him. "The amount of Plague magic in it has decreased substantially since we first found it, but it's quite an impressive amount even still. When we found it, there was so much I could feel it even in my neighboring body!"
"Hahah, I can imagine so! We use it as a magic battery, as well." He turned, and headed back out the door. "Well, I should probably be going. Thank you very much for returning this to me."
"Er, you're welcome. I'd like to get back to my work now."
"Right, of course. I'll be on my way." And he ambled off down the hallway. But Convexity still felt it. That strange energy, it hung heavy in the air now, a feeling like staring down from the top of the mountains beginning to form. Almost like vertigo...

She decided she should probably try to sleep this off.

Xildryss had arrived back at the starwood tree where the marker had been nestled. He quickly found the spot where it'd been, pulled up by the tree's growth. And just a couple steps away, he found the tunnel. Squeezing in under the tree's roots, he entered, and was greeted with the familiar sight of his clan's entryway, floor paved with traprock and glowing, infused crystals set haphazardly into the walls, providing a reddish glow just bright enough. Another Pearlcatcher, wearing a golden circlet and with pouches of herbs tied over her wing-shoulders, greeted him halfway.

"Did you get the battery back?", she said.
"I did. The Amitolans were very welcoming. I don't think they suspected anything."
"That's good. We don't have any reason to harm them now, so keeping good relations for the time being is likely wise."
"Yes...for the time being." He pushed the battery into the ceiling- probably good to have it further in this time, to make it harder to find. "Argh. They had it for long enough that it lost over half of its power. We'll have to start charging it again." He sighed. "...At least we didn't lose all of it. It's not as much of a setback as I feared. We'll be able to put this to use soon enough."
"Good, good! Shall we head back?"
"Mhm. We don't need the Amitolans hearing us."

He had no intention of harming anyone...not yet.

But soon, the ritual would begin.