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The Children of Summer; And the land of the Fringe
Topic Started: Jul 3 2013, 10:37 AM (418 Views)
Nightfury
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The Children of Summer

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, ponies set hoof upon their future home for the first time.

Three tribes, of unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi, came upon the magical land of Equestria in times long past, when the world was young and the races younger still. The empires of gryphons and zebras, the lands of Cervidas and Ib’Xian, all were simple fledgling civilisations barely grown into their own borders. The Leylines had yet to burn their borders into the earth, and the world was far larger than it is today.

Their new home seemed a paradise. And yet, so did their old home, to some. The tale is well-known, how the flame of friendship warned off the long winter and the Windigos that caused it. However, the origins of the story are far more than the dilute result, and have far darker branches than the children’s tale of the holiday season.

There were those who considered their new home less than a blessing. To the pegasi, especially, who felt the chill of the cold wind greater than most and watched from above as the colorful world around them was replaced by frost and ice, such beautiful lands could be obscured by snow as easily as the rest. In the end, a rift came between the pegasi, and they splintered from their new capital of Cloudsdale. The rebels left clean of bloodshed and clean of war, for they had one simple goal, as their leader stated upon their final exodus. “If I must die, I will do so in the embrace of summer.” He spoke – the fear of cold winter’s return guiding their journey south.

These pegasi were never seen nor heard from again, and soon they would be all-but forgotten. Ley ringed the lands of the Known World, and even as the known grew greater, the world grew smaller in size. The edges of the map were filled in, and the mysteries of the world disappeared one by one, either by quill or by sword. The lost pegasi, as they had been named in chronicles and tales were nowhere to be found, only in rumors. The deer of Cervidas had given them gifts of magic to help them on their way, said some. The zebras had taught them their ways, said others.

They would not remain lost forever, though. Upon the second Long Night, the foiled return of Nightmare Moon, the Leylines were changed for an instant. An entire mountain range to the south of the world turned to silvery-blue stone, if only for an instant, and the earth cracked deep into the lines, forcing the ley around the new cracks and holes. The caves and tunnels of the range were, all of a sudden, free passage to the Lost World. Unfortunate, then, that the area was long abandoned, Ley ringing it in almost end to end.

It was only almost a decade later that the paths through the Ley would finally be revealed.

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History

"We are the sons and daughters of flame."
"We do not fear the embrace of cold winter."
"We shall live and die with the heart of the dragon."
"Ice and snow hold no purchase in our souls."
"We are the children of summer."
"Winter is coming."

- The creed of the Children of Summer. During prayer, the Firelight woods echo with the voices.


The Children of Summer are the lost pegasi of the tales, returned in the thousand long years since they left the world for warmer places. They now occupy the portion of land known as The Fringe, near to both the Zebras and the Camels of the south. They have yet to make contact with Ponykind; however, the trials they have faced have shaped their bodies and their minds.

The Children of Summer count their history through word of mouth, and yet, in thousands of years the tales have not deviated much from Equestria’s written record - though the Children’s version is far more complete. When the lost pegasi left for the south, their lives only became harder. Equestria’s bounty stretched to the shores of the world but fear drove them southbound across the sea. Many were lost to exhaustion over the seas, and this boded poorly for the Children as a whole, and was a first step towards their new selves, as each death hardened them to the world.

Fortunately for them their crossing took place at the location that would one day become Eternity’s Bridge. The ocean was narrow and the land soon found, the rich soil of Cervidas welcoming them. But by then, their travel was in vain, as true winter had fallen upon them, powerful as ever. They were restricted to the ground, thinking their journey ended upon a foreign plain, when a creature of legend found them within the snow. A hulking dragon, not yet keen upon hibernation, regarded them with fierce eyes. It was unaffected by the winter – dragonflame warming its insides and protecting it from bitter chills. Though it did not find them to be suitable prey, the dragon had given them a symbol. Warmth radiated from it and for a second staved off their chills as well. The reasoning was clear – if they were to survive the long winter to the north, they must take the ways of dragons for themselves, to survive where they were sure former brothers and sisters would die. In their state, near death, even the strange and almost religious idea seemed plausible.

For weeks, they survived upon the thought with single minded intensity, taking their name of the Children of Summer. They harvested the forest around, lining their ramshackle camp with bonfires to stave off the cold as best they could. They could not last forever, but just as they began to falter with rain and snow crippling their flames, fortune smiled upon them with the discovery of a race that they had never met before or since.

The Deer were tall, noble and mystical, far from the unicorns of the north. They had never seen ponies before, let alone flying ones that spoke of godlike dragons and endless winter. Their tale did incite curiosity in the cervines that they had met. As they appeared keen to assist the pegasi in their quest, or at least keen to see the pegasi on their way again, they offered food and shelter to the Children of Summer, delicacies of fruits and plants that they had never seen before. It did not, however, satiate the Children. They were hungry, yes, and it filled their bellies, but their newfound devotion to the dragons called for something more. So in the dark of night, they stole away from the company of the deer tribe, heading south without so much as a goodbye.

Lake Blue, as it is now named, stood in their way as a first obstacle, as the winter refused to abate. They hesitated upon the shores, their sense of time skewed by the journey, hoping for spring to thaw their path. Over time, it appeared winter only grew deeper – the trees and grasses dwindling as deep snow took away their heat and their sunlight. Soon, they were lost in a white wasteland, and found no choice but to embark across the frozen surface in hope of survival. Fortunately, Lake Blue provided the first opportunity to satiate their hunger in the way of dragons and other, greater creatures. The icy lake, large, but frozen, had fish locked beneath the surface, carnivores that fed upon each other to survive winter while the herbivores died off. Fish - not a plant for prey, yet not quite feasts for dragons. It was a first step, at least.

Their hunting was in vain, at first. Fishing lines and hooks crafted from broken saddlebags failed to draw their attention through the smashed holes in the jagged ice. At least, until the ice cracked beneath one of their own, shards grasping at his flesh as his blood tainted the water red. The creatures were quick to the feast – fish, big and small, swarmed upon him and tore his body to pieces. His loss was not mourned, hungry and hardened as they were, because in their despairing state, the loss of one pony provided their salvation.

Blood. Blood was their answer and their path through the cold. They wove nets from their manes and tails cut, and while crude they did not have to serve for much. Each time they would hunt on their exercise, a different hunter would cut their flesh upon the ice, bleed into the water and draw the fish eagerly to their traps. They feasted as few did through cruel winter and slowly, but surely, they began to prosper.

When they first stepped upon the ice, they had been ponies. But when winter abated, spring taking hold in truth, the Children of Summer had become far more. In their minds, they had become dragons.

Their coats – once colorful as any of the other ponies, were all in muted, dark shades, stained with dirt, or blood, or both. Their rituals had cost them – many had died, but their life had not gone to waste, hardening the others among their number, turning them from loving pegasi to strong, cold warriors, a change made easier from their military heritage. Their fur was dyed, pressed in patterns and coated to make a coat of ‘scales’ with a mixture of honey and plant extracts, mixed with the blood of both friend and foe to make them shine as true dragons did. Their teeth, in the more devout, were filed down with abrasive stone to better carve through meat and tendon.

With a singleminded focus and rigorous devotion, these rituals soon shifted into a natural form. After many years, their bodies began to grow scaly though not nearly as tough as dragon's scales, it does make their bodies much more difficult to injure. Their teeth grew to a natural point in place of the former filing and grinding, making it easier to tear the flesh of the small animals they hunt. Whether this is through cross breeding or the magical nature of the fringe's ley energy cannot be certain.

And yet, for all they worked, they still feared one thing: The storm that consumed their long lost home. It had been near a whole year since they had left, and winter had surely claimed this ‘Equestria’ that their treasonous fellows had fallen in with. Unicorns and earth ponies – and even Commander Hurricane had fallen in with them! It was true to be said that they were no longer kin to any of the pegasi, and so they lamented none of their believed deaths.

By the summer, they had reached their end. In the place they called The Fringe, to the south that they were fleeing, they reached a barrier of energy that burned in ways even a dragon could not. To the west they found ice, floating glacial masses they were loath to cross. And to the east, a mountain range, yet unbarred, from where the sun rose. It was an obvious choice – to the east, and the sun, beyond the mountain range. The ley closed behind them and they were lost for years – until, of course, the return of the Queen of the Night, Nightmare Moon, replaced the mountains with lunar stone and split the ley within. The Children of Summer returned, rushing from an unseen enemy, but there was not a feather left of the pegasi that had fled from winter so long ago.


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Philosophy and Form

”An insult is paid in blood. A slight, in blood. A wound, in blood. But never in heart. Blood is payment, but death may only pay for death.”

- The Ceremonial lines given before a duel is commenced. Or, one of the lines - it changes both between flights and practitioners.


The Children of Summer, while technically sharing their genetics with the ponies of Equestria, are so far from Equestrians that they might as well be full dragons – it would probably make them far more comparable

As the Children of Summer lived and grew among their draconian neighbors, it stands to reason that as their obsession with them grew, their bodies changed to match. After many years, their bodies began to grow scaly though not nearly as tough as dragon's scales, it does make their bodies much more difficult to injure. Their teeth grew to a natural point, making it easier to tear the flesh of the small animals they hunt. Whether this is through cross breeding or the magical nature of the fringe's ley energy cannot be certain.

The kirin of the fringe sport short claws in place of hooves. As well as a prominently distinguishable, soft-scaled underbelly. From the top of their foreheads where the mane begins, a set of harder, sturdier scales form from temple to temple, down the muzzle to their nose. While not sparing anything in the way of scales, their bodies are not lacking in fur to keep them warm during the winter. Their manes tend to grow much further down the neck and onto the back, with fur still growing on longer, slightly more reptilian tails. Most kirin still grow a short layer of fur beneath their scales, and all kirin still grow feathers on their wings for flight. Do to their more land based nature, they aren't as adept at flight as Equestrian Pegasus. However, their wings tend to be much larger than their Equestrian counterparts, as their bodies have grown to be larger and sturdier.

While kirin do not have the glands needed to produce a flame as dragons do, they have discovered a magically based ability to create fire breath. Much in the same way that any pony has the potential to tap into their innermost magical reserves to increase their natural abilities. This technique is taught to the young of the flights and is seen as a natural part of them. Normal pegasus magic is available to them, though they rarely ever use it.

It is important to note that, while they are able to withstand much higher than normal temperatures, they are nowhere near being able to bath in lava as dragons do and any attempt to do so would prove extremely hazardous or fatal.

Their hierarchy is based on honor and respect, yet devoid of apparent law, based on the motive of strength equalling survival. Infighting is uncommon, due to the consequences, and despite their fiery nature the tribes are surprisingly peaceful – they keep a great respect for their own kind and never kill, only fight. All injuries are taken without animosity, if inflicted in such a fight, as they will soon be repaired at the skilled hooves of their healers. It is considered the height of folly, however, to kill another in a challenge, as the death gives the family both right and cause to slay the one ‘victorious’.

The other races are treated similarly though with less temper. The Children seem to believe something akin to the idea that they are chosen wolves among sheep, or dragons among ponies, as appropriate, and as such they reserve such brusque and brutal natures for their own kind. They hold those who have killed in high regard, and carnivorous races even higher, near as equals. The ‘Unblooded’ as they call those who have not killed with their own hooves or claws, have no influence, yet they are treated courteously as long as they are not displaying obvious cowardice.

Relationships

Within the Children of Summer it is discouraged to form bonds outside their own kind. They believe that the blood of their ancestors is most important, the blood of the dragon, and they refuse to taint it with outsider spawn. This is rarely an issue, as they are a long distance from Equestria’s shores, and the zebras have yet to make true contact with their kind. Amusingly, the younger mares among the Children often offer themselves to dragons, only to be, without exception, denied. The lazier of dragons may use them to hunt for gems or meat, while most will simply turn them away – due to the location they occupy, the few dragons nearby are more than used to the fanatical proposals over the past few years.

A marriage between Summer families is not as formal as the Equestrian variant. It involves great revels – with most of the camp in attendance – and in the end, a battle. The two lovers are brought to an arena outlined by their peers, and do battle, fighting until one of the two is brought to bleed. The winner then has the honour of kissing the wound, taking their lover’s blood as their own, and dressing their injury. Only then may the two be truly joined. As long as the pair are both of the Children, nothing else matters – if the two are young or old, heterosexual or otherwise, all things are secondary if both of the pair consent to the relationship.

Similarly, animosity between families can break the Children and as such are handled with similar method. The problem is brought forth by an adjudicator, and both sides tell their reasons without lies or hidden information, and a fight is called to resolve the matter. Combat is the method of choice; however the two will be prevented from dealing a killing blow, for loss of their honour. In the end almost all duels end in a friendship, for the act of wrestling and physical confrontation is as familiar to them as a hug to Equestrians. Most if not all of the members of a tribe are taught from childhood to turn their hatred away from their brothers and their sisters, instead turning it outward and keeping the bonds of blood strong.

Religion

"Mother above, take us under your glittering flames. Protect us from the heat yet banish the cold, and allow us to exist as fellows to your beautiful creation."

The religious beliefs of the Fringe-dwellers are possibly more complex than their hierarchy. It most obviously rotates around the dragons of Equestria and elsewhere as mortal gods, backed in their eyes by size, magic and their outlandish lifespan. They model themselves upon them, and are at the bidding of any dragon who deigns to make use of them. They believe the sun to be of a draconic nature as well, a burning flame of a matriarchal dragoness, following the moon, her egg, as they eternally fall across the sky. They tell legends of a time when the sun will reach the moon, and it shall crack and let forth a thousand, thousand dragons.

Their idea of the sun also takes the place of their god, under the name of ‘The Mother’, ‘Mother of Flames’ or ‘The Lady of Light’ depending on which tribe one visits. In their rendition, The Mother is the light and warmth of all things, in every flame and every speck of light. And equally, the winter is her nemesis – seeking the death of all she has made. The dragons were her shining light – her counter to cold winter, fire burning inside them so that she may always watch the world through them. This is why they hold such a fascination with dragons, as they wish to hold some of the fire the dragons possess for themselves, to be forever joined with their Lady of Light.

Most of their society is based upon such fascination – it is the main reason that the Children do not take up residence in the clouds, instead preferring earth and stone. Fire cannot thrive in clouds, and as so, neither may they.

Many of them take practices to make them, as they believe, more draconic – many have their teeth regularly filed to sharpened points, chewing on herbs to ultimately dull the pain of exposed nerves to an unnoticeable ache. Ritual sacrifices are also a favourite, of any beast – with the condition it was killed by their own hooves. The sacrifices usually end with the heart of the sacrifice being consumed, to be granted the blood power that their god gifts upon the sacrifice.

Less common are the practices given form by the alchemists of the varying tribes. They involve a ritual known as firetouch. Flammable fluids are taken into the mouth, and used to mimic a dragon’s breath with use of hoofbands attached to smouldering wicks. Some even choose to take this one step further – they douse themselves in fireproof fluids that soak into the skin and, if properly prepared, the scale-pressed fur, followed by the fuel, and they set themselves alight.

There are two common groups that do this – the aptly named Firedancers, who revel at festivals and other gatherings until their flames burn out, and Comets, who let themselves burn in the midst of aerial acrobatics during the night. This is rarely done due to the fact that the chemicals can greatly reduce the lifespan of the user, but they gain benefits by their thickened skin in response to the repeated dousing. Fire breathing is similarly treated, and while it is a great sign of reverence to their mortal gods, it is controlled in its use so that overzealous youths do not go about killing themselves by either burning, or ingesting the poisonous fuel.


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Culture

"By fire and scale, we live. Through ice and cold, we will endure. We are kin to dragons; and yet our strength is our own. Remember this, and you shall survive."

The culture of the Children of Summer is,oddly enough for their stylings, a rather peaceful one. They are roamers in The Fringe, and only ever leave for the annual shift of one tribe to the fortress of Winterscale, built into the caves of the mountains to the northwest. Besides, The Fringe is littered with abandoned towns and fortresses without buildings, where the roaming Children may set up camp out of the bitter winds and snows of winter. They rarely stay in the one place for long – moving across the plains as divined by the seers and leaders of the tribes, or as they call them, Flights – after the name given to a large group of dragons.

After thousands of years of the practice, their digestive system is one of few traits that are not even remotely similar to their pony ancestors. They are omnivorous, in a sense; however their body is well adapted to meat more than plant matter, and their lifestyle is more violent to match the lack of a grazing nature. They can work metal as well as they could pre-exodus, though they rarely wear metal armor, instead preferring blades and spear tips while wearing armors of leather and hide. They are masters of hunting and fishing, living off carnivorous fish that live in the rivers downstream of Lake Blue and the wildlife that inhabits the bountiful forest.

In everyday life, the jobs of the Children vary wildly. Due to the lack of unicorns, their innovation was not blunted by the ease of magic, and they learned to do all things with hoof instead of horn. Smithing, sewing and farming is all done by hoof, or sometimes, by wing. While they do not eat the plants they grow, there are carefully tended farms in the more major settlements, serving to produce fuels and alchemical ingredients, as well as plants like flax for cloth and ropes.

Alchemy serves as a major part of the lives of the Children in medicine, art and everyday life. From something as simple as alcohol or medicine, to the chemical cocktails they use to make their coats hard as dragonscale and their bodies burn without harming them. Alchemists are highly regarded among all the tribes, for war and for peace, for their wide range of skills can make any flight prosper, and since they are plentiful, the flights prosper easily.

Naming convention among the Children is much unlike Equestria. Their names are homage - made up of a given name and a surname of the month they were born, of the eight on their simple calendar: Northfire and Sun’s Warmth for summer, Coldfall and Summer’s End for Autumn, Icewall and Frostscale for Winter, and Stormwatch and First Bloom for Spring. It is common for their name to be given as that of their ancestor, and as such, a Child of Summer will introduce themselves as, for example “Fireheart of First Bloom, fifth of her name.”

The Marks

Interestingly, none of the children of summer appear to have a cutiemark of any kind; perhaps lost the same as their kindness and gained their bloodthirst. Instead, they have a mimicry based upon ochre stones from the mountains near the Dust passage. As the rather lazy life of the Children gives them plenty of time to spare, it is unheard of that one pony will need to do more than one job in the course of a day. As such, upon the morning of each day, a mark is drawn upon the bare flank in ochre dust. This is done since they are only young - each of the foals is taught their marks from a very young age.

The Leaf

The leaf is a green-on-dark-green emblem depicting three leaves in a circular formation, decreasing in size from the top in a clockwise direction. It is related to all things plant-related, whether it be farming, gathering, turning flax to rope or maize to fuel. While important, more often than not the leaf is seen as slightly derogatory, related to those grass-eating races that they once called ancestors.

The Gem

While not of incredible relevance, the Children of Summer do require metals and ores to fuel the harsher portions of their lifestyle in the form of blades and infrastructure. The Gem covers stonework and masonry, as well as mining and purifying ores.

The Spark

One of the more common marks, the Spark is the mark of the alchemists and their ilk. It is an image of a bright blue spark, a single dot with one long tail and five streaks. The spark is often a sign - ‘Flammable.’

The Spear

A silvery spear tip is the mark of a hunter, those who skin, cook and hunt the creatures that feed the tribes. This comes in two variants - one with the beginnings of a haft, and one with a metal hook in place of it. They are for the two groups - the fishers and the hunters. The spear also covers things such as skinning and leatherworking, and generally the work of all parts of an animal body.

The Flame

This is a less common mark, drawn in powdered fuel and applied before the night of a Firedance or Comet performance. It is the obvious mark of a dancer - one willing to risk their life, for the moment, to dance for their god. This mark is drawn to be flammable so that during the dance, it burns away. If properly prepared, the mark will be entirely gone by the time the fuel runs out.

The Scale

A mark only seen when war is declared, and has not been seen for several thousand years for that matter, since the Children have most always been united. The Scale is usually painted over the ‘scales’ on a Child’s flanks, forming a mottled pattern of black and whatever color their ordinary coat is dyed in.

The Scroll

This is the mark of a very prestigious office, the members of the tribe dedicated to preserving their history and their tales. Without written language to resort to they are rarely held to other tasks, instead left to focus upon their tales and knowledge. Those bearing the scroll are also those that oversee fights, marriages and other ceremonies relative to their god.

The Amulet

While currency is not used among the flights, instead working on a communal system of bartering, each tribal leader possesses a metal coin that is the symbol of their leadership. The Amulet is drawn in careful greys with white details, and it is the mark of leadership and oversight.

The Flag

A red flag with a clan marking. This is rarely seen due to the isolation of the tribes but it is the mark of a messenger - or an envoy. The only time it is seen, inside The Fringe, is when messages are sent via runner between differing settlements.

The Skull

Drawn in ash, the skull is the mark given to those who must organise the solemn funeral of one of their own. It is often seen an omen - any who interact with one bearing the skull is like to share the fate of the one they are carrying to their final rest. The funeral processes regarding a dead flight member are unique to any other race - the body is bled entirely, and the blood is given to each member of the dead’s relatives in the form of a mouthful to drink. The body is then cremated upon a pyre, doused in the same fuels as Firedancers and Comets.

Interestingly, though they bear such detail in marks, written language among the flights is incredibly rare. They are mostly vocally focused - and as such, illiteracy is common for all but the envoys to other tribes. The texts that they possess are kept in Dust, and any who are commanded to learn them must be sent there. Each is a copy of books a thousand years old, carefully rewritten a hundred times over the years. They are carefully protected, as they have no means to gather any more. Due to the age of the writing, however, it is a rare occasion that any Child of Summer speaks the same dialect of modern Equestrian, or other languages for that matter.


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The Flights

"White. Red. Black. Green. Grey. Blue. Indigo. Orange. Eight eggs, Eight colors, Eight flights, but one blood."

Each of the flights is a unique grouping and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are eight flights in total, each of one major group and often several small outlying camps that hunt or gather in locations far from the main flight. The flights each follow their own paths through the Fringe, and as such it is not rare that they encounter one another. Such meetings are considered guided by the Lady of Light, and result in great revelry and tournaments to judge the fighting strength against other flights.

Each of the flights is named after a color and a defining aspect of the Children of Summer. No flight controls any other, however - the more important decisions are decided by the flight leaders, convened around Ice Lake when the occasion demands it.

The White Flight - Stormseeker Flight

The Stormseekers are apparent descendents of the leader and highest advisors of the first Children, and gain their name from their unique talents with weather. While no Children ever attempt to manipulate the weather in the way Pegasi do, the Scroll-marked in the Stormseeker Flight are uniquely skilled at predicting it. The other flights often pay some homage to them when they meet in order to borrow their services in divining the patterns they make experience in coming weeks. They are also known for their unique Comets, who take their skill to the next level by taking flight unlit - instead flying into a thunderstorm and allowing glancing lightning to set them aflame.

The Red Flight - Blooded Flight

The Red Flight are true warriors and the most violent of the clans, and it shows in all aspects of their life. Their sacrifices, unlike that of other tribes, are fervent occasions that usually leave the ground stained red and the sacrifice nigh unrecognisable. Their duels are taken to more intense levels with the use of weaponry, giving the Red Flight a reputation among the other flights for cruelty. At the same time, however, the other Flights take solace in the fact that should war ever come to them, the Red Flight will be there to break the back of their opponents.

Black Flight - Moonlit Flight

The Black Flight are slightly more reclusive than the other flights, save for trade and teamwork. Their alchemists are skilled in potions that alter the physical state of the body, and as such the Black Flight are renowned for their unusual levels of activity long into the night. Potions for stamina, sleeplessness and night vision are common among the Black Flight, and they work long past sunset, giving them their name.

Green Flight - Dragonfire Flight

The Green Flight, while humorously referred to as the ‘Grass Flight’, are alchemical masters of a different type. They, like Comets in the Stormseekers, throw a unique spin on Comets and Firedancers. Using metal ores and mixtures, the Dragonfire Flight can manipulate the colors of the flames, often putting other flights in awe of the psychadelic multicolor dances that occur when they meet. Regardless, this also results in a much higher rate of death, as their dancers are far more numerous and the temperature of the flames can vary wildly.

Grey Flight - Stonetalon Flight

The Stonetalons are a slower Flight, moving on different paths than the others. They have particular strengths when it comes to masonry and other stonework due to an unprecedented windfall in the form of a cache of pure diamond which they used to line their tools. Theyare more often than not found in the greater settlements of the Children where their talents are put to use reinforcing walls and carving decorations. The Stonetalon flight is one of the largest flights, separated into two groups: The Talons and the Claws. The Talons themselves are the larger, taking three quarters of the population, and they consist of carvers, stoneworkers, leaders and ore and metalworkers. The Claws are the lesser, but held in high regard among the Talons as they’re the food producers and are responsible for the survival of the tribe as a whole. Regardless of how many travel, there is always a moderate garrison of Stonetalon at Dust.

Blue Flight - Ocean Flight

While the only ocean bordering The Fringe is outside the Inner Fringe (an area of The Fringe defined by the fact that it is wrapped almost entirely around with Ley. The Inner Fringe is past a mountain range that covers the only pass through the ley energies, making land travel difficult), the Ocean flight gains their name by their skilled fishers. Their flight is the only one to have braved the White Pass, and is often seen outside the Inner Fringe in the only settlement they have near the water, a small set of stone walls by the name of Wavebreak. As expected, their cooks and hunters are far more skilled with fish than red meat, and their hunting is nearly entirely waterbased. Though, due to the coastal environment, the Oceanflight is near useless with stone and metal, yet able to work wood well enough for boats.

Indigo Flight - Lord’s Flight

The Indigo Flight is the jack-of-all-trades of the eight tribes, save for diplomatic ability. Long ago, the Indigo Flight was decided to be the host of the tribal meetings, and that has grown ever since. The Indigo Flight has the highest rate of literacy among the tribes, and the highest number of envoys, messengers and writers among them. A detachment of the Indigo Flight is always present at Dust, to maintain their only library.

Orange Flight - Sun Flight

The Orange Flight is nothing special anymore, however they were the first of the flights to learn the art of the firetouch and they are still the most masterful. It is a rite of passage in the Orange Flight that one flies with the Comets, causing more than a few deaths over the years that it has been in practice.


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Settlements of The Fringe

There are only a few complete settlements in The Fringe due to the nomadic nature of the flights. However, in certain location, larger than usual encampments or walls have been created for use of the tribes. These are rarely unfilled, but contain an ever shifting populace, and Children who are there one day may be gone the next.

Firelight Outpost is the largest fortress the Children possess in Equestria. Centered in The Fringe, it has perfect placement to guard the path between The Fringe and the rest of the world. Placed upon a river just north of the Firelight Woods, Firelight Outpost is made from timber alone, though it has been added to greatly over the ten years it has been in existence. It has strong walls, soaked in fireproof chemicals to avoid the nature of the forest, which regularly burns down and is regrown within weeks or months by latent ley energy.

The largest addition to Firelight, however, is the High Tower. It is built of the largest trees of the forest, several stories high with no entrances at ground level. Fifty feet up, it has a large platform, leading into the tower proper. It extends for at least another fifty feet beyond that, ending in a viewport tower. Below the first platform is set four large basins of a flame-retardant fluid harvested from the forests nearby, enough to douse the fortress if need be.

Winterscale is set upon a mountain in the Outer Fringe, carved by Stonetalons into a cave commonly used by dragons for nesting. The mountain is an enigma due to the tunnels that run through it - snow falls into deep crevasses, where lava from within the stone melts it into water that runs deep through the mountain’s veins. Due to the hot stone and magma, steam and heat are constant even in the coldest winters, drawing dragons to it at all times of the year.

For this reason, Winterscale was created to give a link to the dragons - and every year a different flight sends young fillies and colts, in the care of a few select elders, to tend to the eggs of dragons and, as they believe it, earn the blessings of their goddess. Dragons do not often allow the Children near their eggs, but the cave can be home to two or three dragons annually - often the same dragons every year, who consider the worship of the Children something enjoyable.

Ice is near the center of the Inner Fringe, built upon a stream that joins two lakes just northeast of Firelight Outpost. Ice is manned by Indigo Flight, and stands as the location of the council meetings when an issue requires the input of all eight flights. Ice gets its name for the fact that the stream does not freeze as the lakes do, and floating ice chunks are always seen in the stream. Some Children even make a game of it, strapping their wings and seeing who can make it from one bank of the stream to the other first, though it is frowned upon due to the subzero temperatures.

Wavebreak, on the ocean borders of the Outer Fringe, is an outpost mostly manned by Ocean flight, though the walls are large enough to hold any of the flights passing through. It is not really considered a major location due to the fact that it is nothing but a set of high wooden walls embedded into the sand and dirt, however it is the only safe resting place in the Outer Fringe besides Winterscale, making it a common stop on the way in or out of the Inner Fringe.


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The Lost World

Outside The Fringe, through the mountain ranges to the East, the ley blocks entrance to the world beyond. However, events of recent times have opened passages through the ley - a rare event, but not previously unseen, such as the burn-back of the ley in the far north and the breakup around The Echo. In the mountains, in a small fort made by Children of Summer when they first returned to the Known World a decade previous, a tunnel extends through the stone and earth to come out on the far side of the ley lines. Carved by natural causes, the tunnel is a split in the stone wide enough for six ponies side-by-side, and taller still. On the far side, it emerges into the stone-carved city of Dust, which overlooks the Lost World from behind thick stone walls.

The Children of Summer have no intention of ever returning, however they cannot simply abandon Dust. The tunnel itself is lined with thick crystal, too hard to crack with any of the tools they possess - even when forged with the assistance of dragons, or tipped and bladed with diamond. Aside from the thick, though simple gates positioned at either end, the geography of the tunnel gives no solid ground to block either end.

This lack of a proper blockage is why Dust has yet to be abandoned. As the Children tell it, the Lost World is a dangerous place - and there, even the tens thousands that make up the Children Of Summer are either the smallest, or least numerous, of the creatures that live there. Dust is a fortress to fend off the creatures of the Lost World and stop them from following the Children back to the Fringe.

The Lost World is bordered by its own ley walls that fence it in, creating an area twice that of Equestria to the east of the Fringe. However, it is still highly ley-infused, though not to volatile amounts. The energy becomes diffused before it reaches land, and as such pure elemental energy soaks the ground and sky. The Lost World is a land of constant storms, with elementals of every kind and ferocious creatures created by the extended exposure to magical energy. The earth itself is saturated with Terran magic, and changes daily, mountains and valleys heaving into existence just as quickly as they disappear.

Dust is a fortress situated upon the borders of the Leylines, built into a mountain range and slowly expanded and tended to for over three thousand years. Though mostly empty, it is a sprawling fortress, made up of three tiers of thick stone walls and many now abandoned buildings all cut into the stone. The city was created due to it’s defensible location, and in the passing years as the Lost World became saturated by ley and the lands grew more and more hostile, it became the Children’s last settlement.

The lower tier is rich soil brought up from the base of the mountain, more than enough to feed the livestock kept in order to feed the garrison there. The middle tier is mostly residences and workshops, all since abandoned for favor of the Fringe. And the top tier is dominated by the ‘keep’ of Dust- a large, single building that was originally dug in order to mine a grand vein of gemstone that ran deep into the mountain. It was this gemstone vein that split open when the Long Night affected the Ley, giving the Children of Summer their escape from a hostile world, at which point the mining operation was converted in order to make their escape a secret and guarded thing, lest Dust be overwhelmed by the abominable creatures of the Lost World. The tunnel allowed tens of thousands to escape, but at the cost of ten times that perishing in the unforgiving outland.

Dust is still kept as a memory of their time in the Lost World, and as a fortress - defensible from both sides against any manner of enemy. It is their most powerful point in all the lands they control, as well as the safest, which is the reason that all their most valuable artifacts and items are kept within it’s near-abandoned walls.

Credit to Alpha Protocol for Kirin Biology
Edited by Nightfury, Jan 14 2015, 09:59 PM.
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Lance Skyrush
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Edited by Lance Skyrush, Jul 9 2013, 01:53 PM.
Decades traveled over old roads.
The secluded walk of the lonesome traveler, a warrior.
The lonesome road is one that leads to wisdom, but at what cost?
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