Wrapping up last month's Here Be Dragons event, vote on your favourite DTA entries and pet designs.

We also begin the next page of our storyline. Suddenly from rainforest to desert, what will you do in the next prompt: Parched Rainforest?

Want to catch up on the story? Visit our Current Storyline Hub!

Story

You have chosen the bone carving. As you take the tangled threads into your hand, they unwind, and the bone sliver taps like a pendulum into you. Staring into the eroded carving, you feel the Bellji’s eye watching you, preening apart every strand of fur and staring into your soul. You look up into the eye’s scrutinizing glow, but the Bellji does not waiver.

Then the metal creature seems to decide something, flicks its tail, and trots across the grass and into the dense ground cover. The glimmer of its golden shell disappears into the shadows, but you can see the foliage shake with every step. Shoving the pendant into your satchel, you begin to chase after the shivering ferns.

As you take off into the forest’s fog, a yellow-bellied bird flutters to the ground, snatches the berry, and quickly flees into the branches above.

—————

Romulus was already perched upon the frontmost church pew as Lake Tide entered. He remained motionless, save for the pulse of his mane, as the sound of Lake’s pawsteps echoed through the marble room. A breeze drifted through the unglazed windows, fluttering tapestries in its wake.

“You’re early,” the elder ‘lox commented without turning.

“You knew I would be,” Lake replied.

Lake paused at the end of the aisle, tentatively kneading the maroon carpet, while she watched her advisor with flickering eyes. She could have sworn Romulus was born from stone, had he not needed to be aligned with the Seas to serve the temple. Only after Lake stood for two minutes, motionless as stone herself, did Romulus’ distant stare drift to where the High Priest waited. He shifted his tail aside, and Lake crept into the opened seat.

Without another word, Romulus summoned a large albino-leather satchel and coaxed out a single, decaying leaf. He slipped the fluttering page over to Lake. She craned her neck to see the contents, recognizing the type of parchment before the script.

“A pafolus?” Lake hadn’t seen a primlin artifact in half a decade. “Where is this from?”

“The Midland Marches. A—“ Romulus hesitated, “—random search pulled it from a supposed merchant’s wares.”

“You pillaged another Midlander’s trade cart?”

“Seized hazardous wares’, not pillaged, and it was not unwarranted.”

Lake shook her head. “How are we to remain at peace with our neighbors?”

“If you redirect your attention back to the script, you will see why we believe it was in our rights to confiscate the wares and apprehend the merchant.”

Lake did as she was told, gaze sifting through the pafolus before her. The paper was well-weathered, and the writing was fragmented, but the High Priest recognized a few of the primlin’s words etched into the leaf. She delicately turned each word over and over in her mind, translating slowly. Meticulously.

Coil. Churn. Clot.

“A… spell? Romulus, this seems faux,” Lake said. “In spite of the language, the script is more akin to the bilefolk’s casting than to a primlin’s.”

“A spell for poison will always remind one of the bilefolk,” Romulus hissed. “The Midland Marshes wish for an ecological war.”

It was then that Lake Tide laughed. Romulus flinched back and his fins flared at the unexpected response while Lake’s cheeks pillowed around her glittering eyes. The brief lapse of shock dissipated from Romulus’ face, while Lake shook her head. Settling back to the matter at hand, Romulus’ paw returned to the albino satchel, rummaging around tablets and supplies, as Lake spoke through her chuckles.

“Romulus, you sound like an ancient terradin. Have you met Queen Miamosa and her censfi?” Lake asked. “Those two are not the kind to foolishly chase after victory at the cost of innocent lives, and they would not allow their people to do so either.”

“I warn you of war not based on the queens’ actions, but of the ones made by the company they seek.”

Romulus then tossed a wrapped parcel into the space between them, and Lake’s smile plummeted as she nearly choked on the magic emanating from within the linen cocoon. Curling her whiskers further into themselves, itching to command Romulus to return the bundle to his satchel, Lake draped back the covering. She jolted when the green luminescent glow of a coiling serpent trinket pooled in her eyes.

“What—”

“High Priest Lake Tide, as your advisor, mentor, and more importantly, an aqualox who cares for our people, listen to what I must say: the Midlanders are searching for the primlin’s gods. They are searching to destroy the balance we had fought so hard to reclaim,” Romulus lifted Lake’s chin to meet his eyes. “The Midlanders are searching for war.”

—————

In spite of the blanket of foliage blocking your view from the skittering Bellji, you manage to follow closely as it scurries beneath the branches and thorns. A few times your paw snag and tumble over covered roots, but the Bellji is seemingly waiting for you, as it perches itself atop a branch.

This way, this way! You can almost hear it say. Follow, follow!

And then it dives back into the underbrush, leaves shaking in its wake, and the chase continues.

It feels as though the Bellji is leading you in circles, with the tiny creature making constant clockwise turns, but your surroundings lack familiarity. In fact, with every step, the forest appears to be withering, and the air turns hot and dry. Slowly but surely, the Belji becomes more visible in the shriveling underbrush, and the greenery wanes until there is nothing left but parched soil.

The Bellji stops, footprints skid in the dead, grey soil. You yield behind your guide, feeling your paws brush aside the dusting of soil before halting against lifeless, compacted earth. A jagged line of small, slate pebbles lay before you and the Bellji.

The golden creature turns to you, a hollow wind shifting the dust across your paws. You look across the land beyond the stones. It is a barren wasteland, so deathly that even the sky is void of life. 

How did you end up here? There is no desert near the Great Sycamore — you're certain of it! but the Bellji has no answers for you and has instead seemed to have grown distracted. Something on the horizon has caught its eye. You squint, trying to catch a glimpse of what awaits atop the dust dunes, when something shimmers in its place. Suddenly, a plume of dust and debris erupts into the sky, blotting out the sun and rumbling through your bones.

A sandstorm courses towards you like Death’s river, and there is no time to think! In this brief second you have, what will you do? Do you choose to turn tail and run, or will you stay and hold your ground?

Updates

Fall's almost here, Island Dwellers! September will be a slow month as we make preparations for the upcoming October event, but that doesn't mean that September will be without its activities.

Storyline: Parched Rainforest

After watching you choose the bone carving, the Bellji has led you out of the forest into a lifeless desert. As the pair of you stop at a strange border of small, silver-grey pebbles, a dust storm blacks out the sky. Do you have what it takes to tough the storm, or do you know when it's time to turn tail and run in September's storyline prompt: Parched Rainforest?

here be dragons voting

Two contests were hosted last month, and now it's time to begin long-awaited voting! You are only permitted one vote for each contest, but you may vote for any of the entries (this includes yourself, if you so wish).

The first is the Draw to Adopt for AQUA-071. You can find the voting poll here!

The second is the Pet Design Contest. Vote on your favourite pet here!

Voting will end on September 18th, at which point both polls will close, and the winner will be announced in a mid-month newsletter. Speaking of winners, there was also a Write to Enter where AQUA-077 was raffled off, with the design being won by @/golden-boy!

Another site feature update

Due to an unexpectedly busy month, we were sadly unable to reach our goal, and site updates have been delayed.  We can confirm, though, that all updates will be published to the site no later than Tuesday night, September 12th.

REMINDERS

• Our monthly prompts, Generous Spirit and Poco Discovery, have both been refreshed for September.
• The Activity Corner has also been refreshed as of the 2nd.
• Autumn begins on September 23rd this year. Complete the Summer seasonal prompts before they end on September 22nd at 23:59 CST. 
• The Shelter still has several Safirans waiting to find a home. Stop by and maybe you'll find a new friend!
• Did you know that Safira Island has a Discord server? Swing by and check it out!
• Our 2023 October Guest artists have been selected and contacted as of September 1st. Thank you to everyone who applied!