[center][h2]Chapter 1: A Sinking Feeling[/h2][/center]

Contrary to what some younger dragons may think, the Moonlight Isles are not static: the largest island, Yves, is constantly drifting, sluggishly making its way across the skies of Adulare and pulling the other islands along with it. Drakes don't realise this at first as they cannot feel the land moving beneath their feet, the same way one cannot feel rotation of the planet. It's only once they are taught to read the stars that they start to notice, and how they take this realisation can say a lot about a dragon. Sure, drakes are always taught that Isles move, but there is a marked difference between being told something and witnessing it with your own eyes.

What's more obvious, however, is that Isles also move vertically. Yves stays mostly consistent in this regard, but the other islands, especially the smaller ones, raise and dip with seemingly no rhyme or reason. A island that was level with Yves one day may find itself elevated by a good few feet the next. They do not stray far though and correct themselves soon after, so it's usually nothing to worry about.

[i]Usually[/i].

Throughout the Isles' history, there have been times where an island has been reported to start sinking. Like the Isles' journey across the heavens, it's such a slow descent that most don't even realise until it is some distance away from its neighbours, and approaching dangerously close to the clouds below. Why this happens is not always clear, but as the Isles are kept aloft by a mixture of magic and the goodwill of its inhabitants, it usually occurs during times of great unrest. 

This, sadly, appears to be one of those times. House Rothscar, the House of Gold, has been caught in crisis of succession after the recent ascension of its head-of-house, Kurkar the Steadfast. As Kurkar was able to name a successor before his retirement, this normally wouldn't be a problem... unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding his ascension, as well as the identity of the dragon he chose, has caused a huge stir that has divided not only Rothscar, but every other House in the Moonlit Isles. 

The dragon in question is one Topaz the Radiant. At the time of her choosing, she was a longtooth dragon, though has since aged to bearded after losing her connection with her third moon, making her the youngest dragon to be anointed for the position. Her perceived inexperience, along with her infamously haughty and vain attitude, would be enough to cause issues on its own, but the most controversial thing about her is not to do Topaz herself, but her lineage. Topaz is one of Kurkar's offspring, and the only one to be sorted into Rothscar. While the bond between parents and children isn't as encouraged as it is in other species, and Kurkar and Topaz were never shown to be particularly close, accusations of nepotism were inevitable.

Topaz is far from the only Rothscar head who had proved divisive upon being chosen, of course, and in the past there have been measures in place to properly mediate such decisions. As befitting of their status as a house of crafters, the House of Gold's elders usually choose the more permanent, solid form of a Mystic upon ascension, and this has been the case of every single head-of-house since Rothscar's formation. This way, leaders can always consult their predecessors if they have trouble making a particular decision, and it has been particularly useful is a head's choice of successor requires some explanation. On the day of his ascension, however, no statue of Kurkar could be found, leading many to believe he had broken this long-standing tradition and has chosen to become an Ancient instead. This silent, shining avatar of the Moons would be much harder to communicate with, though not impossible... if they could find him, that is. Despite several search parties sweeping every corner of the Isles, an Ancient bearing Kurkar's likeness has yet to be found, even during the full phase of his patron moon, the Stone Moon, and no new nesting grounds seem to have sprouted up on any of his favourite spots. 

Unable to contact the former head of Rothscar, the Council has been split on whether to honour and let Topaz take up the role, or to overrule it and elect a new candidate. Topaz has been doing her best to argue her side, and despite her haughtiness, she is not without support. However, there is no shortage of Rothscar elders and bearded dragons who believe they are more suitable for the role. Outside of the House of Gold, dragons are divided further: traditionalist Brynback is torn between honouring Kurkar's decision and believing an older dragon should take charge. Semscale supports Topaz as the voice of the newer generation, while Tessith believes her pride and vanity will prove detrimental to an already overly materialistic House. Myndoth is less concerned with the politics and more with the mystery surrounding Kurkar's disappearance, believing that locating his Ancient should be everyone's first priority. Kebros has been mostly neutral in this conflict, though some of the younger drakes tend towards one side or the other. The few dragons who are unaligned with the Houses either don't care, see Topaz as the breath of fresh air the Houses desperately need, or believe that the fact she was chosen at all is proof that Rothscar's system is flawed.

With all this happening, it was a while before anyone noticed an island had broken away and was making a slow but determined descent towards the cloud bed...

[hr]
You have been in the air for a while now. As rawscale drakes, your wings are not yet strong enough to carry you on their own, and it is only thanks to the magical paths of wind that connect the Isles that you have been able to stay aloft as long as you have. Even so, you more than feel the exhaustion as you begin to close in on the shores of the small, nameless island you have been sent to investigate.

This is one of the Tailbone islands, so named because they extend from the rear of main island of Yves, which from above appears like a dragon in profile. Most of these islands have no individual names, and are largely untouched by dragon society and are instead mostly home to Beasts, Elementals and the smaller species of fairy, such as pixies and kobolds. However, this island does contain a single dragon stronghold, originally built long ago by House Tessith as one of their many temporary outposts. Recently though, House Myndoth expressed interest in re-purposing the old stronghold to act as their new observatory, and a party comprised of mostly Myndoth and Tessith dragons was sent to evaluate the land and see if such a plan is viable. It has now been over two months since the party left, and very little has been heard from them. More disturbingly, however, the island's trajectory has changed during this time, separating from the Isles and drifting closer to the clouds below. 

The Council deliberated for a long time before agreeing to send a pilgrimage clutch, and you know you weren't their first choice. However, with House Rothscar's current political dealings sending everyone in a frenzy, not to mention everyone preparing for the oncoming Moonbeam festival, pickings were slimmer than usual when figuring out who to send. The reason they settled on you, despite your young age, is because one of your members has a connection to the island in question: Stargaze, before she joined your clutch, was hatched on and spent her early life being raised by an elemental named Echo, away from the Houses and the rest of dragon society. Her knowledge of the land, along with Fellwing's powers as a seer, will give you a much needed in edge in locating the missing dragons and discovering why the island is sinking. At least, that's what the council hopes.

Your party is being lead by a bearded dragon by the name of Garrock, a member of House Tessith who will soon be old enough to be consider and elder and join the Council. He is very bulky, covered in thick, armored scales that are royal yellow in color. He has a pair of curled horns, icy blue eyes, and a long, scarred muzzle extenuated by a nasty overbite. His leathery wings are tipped with two extra 'talons' and his tail is long and club-like. Even with the magical winds, rawscales are required to have an older dragon with them if they wish to travel between islands lest they end up being knocked off course or, in extreme cases, falling through towards the clouds. Garrock was assigned to you, and he has made no secret of the fact that he's [b]not[/b] happy about this arrangement. Every so often, he will glance over his shoulder at you, fixing each one of you with a glare as he makes sure you're all still following him. On one of these occasions, you think you see a hint of disappointment in his eyes when he confirms you are, but you might just be imagining that. He would then snort loudly before turning his gaze forwards once more.

Garrock was most vocal about sending someone to investigate, even volunteering to go himself. As an older dragon, he is no longer part of pilgrimage clutch - in fact, he's the rare dragon who doesn't seem to be part of any clutch at all - and thus, the elders refused. He did make such a fuss though, they decided to assign him to your group to supervise in hopes that this would please him and abate his fury. It did not.

Just as you're about to descend on the island, the older dragon glances over at you all one last time. [color=FADA5E]"Hope you all know how to land,"[/color] he says. [color=FADA5E]"If any of you end up with a sprained wing or a broken leg, well, that's your own fault. I'm not a guardian from the hatchery or some coddling Semscale mentor and I'm not going to spend the whole mission taking care of you and tending to your injuries just because you weren't paying attention during gliding lessons."[/color] He sneers slightly before fully spreading open his wings and swooping downwards towards land. Once his feet are planted on the ground, he stretches out his front legs and flexes his wings, his aging bones giving an audible crack as he does so. He then turns to face you, watching as you too land.

The shores of the nameless island are quite beautiful. The area you have landed is a small, secluded beach which, instead of sand, is covered in powdered gemstones that glitter in various shades of purple, blue and green depending on the lighting. The beach is littered with brightly colored seashells. One near your feet trembles, and a small creature resembling a cross between a shrew, a hermit crab and a sea snail emerges and begins scuttling around you, clicking its front claws at you as a warning not to make any sudden movements towards it. Behind Garrock, the land begins to rise up into a shallow cliff, and just beyond that, you can see the tops of trees. You know from your briefing by the Council that beyond this point is a dense, tropical rainforest that takes up most of the island. The old Tessith stronghold lies not far within.

What do you do?

[hider=Stargaze's Knowledge]The home Stargaze shared with Echo is much deeper within the forest, where the land is more marshy and the trees so tall they practically block out the sky. Underneath one such tree is the entrance to the flooded cave which Echo calls home. Echo is actually a mixed elemental, being formed from the essences of water, wood and earth, making that cave the perfect place for her. It wasn't the perfect place for Stargaze, however, and would have likely spent more time outside the cave, wandering the swamp around it. She is far more familiar with this part of the island.[/hider]
[hider=Fellwing's Vision]As Fellwing's feet touch the ground, she's hit with a strong sense of familiarity, despite never have been here before. Just before the clutch was summoned by the Council, she had a vision of a rainforest just like the one in front of her, and a small village within, inhabited by brownies - small, wingless fairies with rodent-like features. She followed one such brownie named Alpin as he scampered up the side of a tree like a squirrel, and crawled inside a small hole in the bark. Inside was a dimly lit yet surprisingly spacious room, its furniture seemingly formed from the wood of the tree itself. Another brownie was at the table in the center, their back to Alpin. They seemed to be working on something, and didn't even glance round as Alpin approached.

"Oy, Bartley!" Alpin called. When his friend didn't immediately respond, he called again, his shouts getting progressively louder and louder. "Bartley! Bartley, hey! Hey! He-"

"I'm not deaf yet, boy!" Bartley eventually barked, casting a glare over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Alpin didn't seem to notice their tone and scuttled closer, peering over the top of their head. "Oh, oh are you workin' on something? What is it, huh?" he said.

Bartley swatted at him before using their body to shield their work. "None of that! You can see it when it's finished, just like everyone else!" they said. "Did you want to tell me something, or are you just here to pester me?"

Alpin took a step back and gave a nod. "Right, right, so," he began. "So I ran into Gow just now, like literally ran into him, and he just got really angry at me! I understand he'd be upset, but he actually swiped at me! Nearly caught my ear with those claws of his!"

Bartley had turned back to their work and gave a rather uncommitted grunt as Alpin continued babbling.

"And 's weird 'cause I got a similar reaction the other day. I mean, it was partly my fault because I was playing coconut catch with Nab, and I did that thing where I wasn't really focusing where I was aiming and hit him straight and then he got really angry and said he wasn't going to talk to me anymore."

"Oh no," Bartley replied flatly.

"And I felt really bad, but it also struck me as really weird because the day before that-" Alpin continued listing off other events where a fellow brownie didn't take kindly to his hijinks, his speech getting progressively faster and faster until he to stop and take a breath. "Everyone's just been so crabby lately, you know?"

"Well, people do tend to get angry when you hit them or knock them over."

"No, no, this is different!" the younger brownie insisted. "It feels like ever since that stranger showed up in the hollow, no one has been actin' right!"

"I think you're just imagining it."

Alpin shook his head. "No, no, I know I'm right!" he said. "The forest has felt really different. Haven't you noticed how quiet it's been?"

"Not really, no," Bartley grumbled. They leaned forward to get a better look at their work and, as they did, something sharp seemed to catch on their skin. They gave a small cry, causing Alpin to finally stop talking for a moment to look at them.

"What's wrong?"

"Cut myself," Bartley said, nursing their wounded hand.

"What did you do that for?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Bartley snapped.

"Well, can I do something?" Alpin approached them again.

"No, I'm fine," the older brownie responded between gritted teeth. "Just, I need some space right now." When Alpin attempted to put a hand on their shoulder, Bartley sharply turned towards him and he - and by extension, Fellwing - finally got a good look at their face: it was bloated, with patches of dark green spreading across the skin. Their beady eyes were crimsone, and inside their mouth was rows and rows of sharp, needle-like teeth. "I said I'm fine!" they barked, causing Alpin to jump back several feet in fear. Without another word, they turned away and scurried back out of the room. The vision then ends, leaving Fellwing with this slightly prickly feeling under her scales.[/hider]