Hello!! I'm finally making an introductory post! Hooray!
About Me
Name: Mask
Pronouns: Any
FR Profile: MoonlitMask, ID #582129
Main Blog: Moonlit-Mask
As you've probably gathered, this is my Flight Rising sideblog! I reblog all kinds of stuff, but most of my original posts involve my clan's lore and the mysterious tale of Firebird's Roost. I absolutely love the community worldbuilding aspect of FR Tumblr and will never turn down a chance to plan connections with people or just talk about our stories. Don't be afraid to say hi!
Tags
#firebird's roost - Anything related to my overarching lore story, usually in the form of plot-relevant art, writing, or worldbuilding discussions
#mask art - General art tag
#dragon share - On-site dragon images and scrying workshop stuff
Individual characters are tagged as '(Name) the (Species)'; for instance, #fluffington the tundra or #cheddar the banescale
We're currently investigating a spate of spam private messages being sent to players on the site.
These private messages do not have links in them. They're quite friendly and are heavily focused on topics typically associated with Flight Rising players, like role-play, art commissions, etc. From there, they'll invite you to privately message them over on Discord (currently), where whatever link or file they send you won't be flagged.
This is a common tactic, to isolate the intended victim by bringing them to a "second place."
Never go to the second place. If what they're looking to discuss in private messages is legitimate, they'll have no problems discussing their topics on the Flight Rising website.
Please be careful when you're being sent an unknown link or file. Don't download files or click on links from people employing these tactics online.
This guide is a very good starting point for creating characters and clans, and has a few helpful summaries about the gods, dragon breeds, beastclans, and other site lore in a way that's not too overwhelming ^^
(I normally don't post my art in full to public social medias anymore but I know the FR community is big on tumblr so if any of you see this - look I drew the Shadowbinder!! :>)
had a dream last night that i had a spiral like this that was the coolest spiral ever and when i woke up I was so so sad cause I knew they weren't real :[
Hi! Starting with this next chapter, the posting schedule for TCOFR is going to change a little bit. Until now, I've been uploading pages in bulk to Tumblr and ComicFury, releasing the whole chapter all at once on both platforms. But, as I've come to realize, this kind of sucks for visibility, and leaves a lot of long stretches with no new content.
So, from now on, each new chapter will be posted to ComicFury in 'bursts'. One page will come out every day until we hit the end of the chapter, and then there'll be a week or two of space before the next one starts posting. That is to say, instead of uploading sixteen pages on one day, it'll be one page daily for sixteen days. And, hopefully, having that extra backlog will mean fewer of these annoying hiatuses.
The Tumblr version of the comic will still consist of full chapters, released as soon as the last page posts on ComicFury. So if you're exclusively reading through Tumblr, things won't really change much - you'll just have to wait a bit longer until the schedule catches up.
Chapter 5 will start posting to ComicFury tomorrow! There are sixteen pages in this one, so it'll be coming to Tumblr in full on the 25th. Subsequent updates should be a fair bit quicker.
If you'd like to keep up with the page-by-page updates, as always, the ComicFury site can be found right here.
My first 2026 Art Fight attack for Hexlash ! 🐲🎨
I really wanted to thank them for the amazing job they do each year organizing Flight Rising' Secret Santa!
The second Flight Rising dragon I redesigned, the ice princess refugee Cahrid. I wanted to make sure to design her wheelchair in a way that also referenced her dragons apparel, colors, and design as best I could.
It's not really a secret that the deities are a tangible, physical presence in Sornieth. The devs have publicly commented that Dragon Athiesim isn't a matter of not believing; more like a belief that the deities don't deserve worship. This post isn't about that.
Each Flight has a different relationship with their deity, the diversity of which fascinates me from a worldbuilding perspective. There's an in-build inequality in worship simply due to some deities being physically present in their territory and others simply... not. Some Flights having events that remove their deity from the equation entirely, not to mention that they used to actively speak in their Flight's forums with... debatable canon status. Flamecaller still holds a grudge against Shadow for Undel's typo in my heart.
Lets dive in!
Disclaimer: I have a life and therefore have not gone through FR lore with a fine-toothed comb simply for lack of combined time+energy. Any lore inconsistencies are my bad, and I am liable to miss small details. My PoV is that of someone who has never left Fire Flight and never will, so I will have certain biases. I promise I do like all the other Flights in different ways.
I'll start with establishing which deities have had a physical presence in the world in the Fourth Age at all, then bite in to the potential implications of each, which will also include my personal headcanons because some of you seem to like them.
-----
Earthshaker: Not currently present, but has undeniably tangibly interacted with current-day drakes. The world map is vague, implying that the Earthshaker might actually reside at the Pillar of the World under normal circumstances, but he has vanished with a few parting words to the Obelisk dragons; the first of which he brought to life to speak directly to on his mission to find some strange threat.
Earth Flight has themes of stability; an unchanging foundation upon which greatness can be built. Additionally, they venerate the past to a potentially unhealthy degree. Their deity disappearing for any reason would likely shake up any pious resident, especially if they were those that lived in the Pillar's shadow. How do Earth Flight drakes reconcile the belief that the old ways are good when the old guard literally turned tail and vanished?
I imagine that at the current point in lore, Earth dragons who had been staunch advocates for tradition are facing pushback from their adversaries in ways they have a hard time fighting. Earthshaker is no longer present, so you have to grow too, right? You're stuck in a rut like an old Snapper; too set in your ways to see that the right way forward is out, aren't you? It's probably not a good time to be an Earth traditionalist, socially.
---
Flamecaller: Potentially physically tangible, no solid evidence of physical interaction with dragons in the current day. Flamecaller's contribution to the "Voices" thread was "My children threaten to tear themselves apart even as I struggle to keep the heart of Sornieth from overflowing." And I think that's as clear as you can get short of her saying "I'm underground lol."
It's probably never been something of worry to Fire residents (Except Banescales, we'll get to them soon), most importantly because the Coatl, Flamecaller's youngest children, were made with a greater sensitivity to vibrations and a belly that hugs the ground to feel them. Tectonic activity is likely greatest in the Ashfall Wastes, which means that Flamecaller's true voice is felt by every resident.
But, she did disappear to one species in particular. When Banescale re-emerged, though, they had to defy their own instincts to be comforted. They were from a time where Flamecaller sought to spread her influence over the whole of Sornieth, and was likely active upon the surface until their near-complete and utter destruction at the hands of the Gaolers. The story gives us evidence that song may have been integral to Banescale society, and I like to stretch that further to say that they shared that with Mother. While Banescale take great comfort in Coatl song, the first generation must have been terrified to be functionally deafened to how they were meant to hear their god.
I cannot talk about Fire without mentioning my brainworm, the two great volcanoes that shine through the smog. The Great Furnace is the most likely candidate for the point directly above Flamecaller, since it is very active and has shown no signs of slowing down since the newest addition to Fire's domain. It is likely the oldest, and the holiest site in the Ashfall Wastes for these reasons.
The Magmablood Rebuke, on the other hand, is young and strong and as violent as the conflict that divides our Flight. Its a very clear indication that whatever Flamecaller is doing, it's not enough, but only on a meta-level. She's not here to say it to them, do her people really see the Rebuke as anything other than an indication of her greatness? Fire spreads, and Flamecaller has been staying still for a very long time, in defiance of her very nature for the sake of the greater good. The Rebuke is a slip-up on her end, one that has allowed Fire's layperson to take refuge from worsening conditions on the mainland, all presumably unaware of her struggles far below.
---
Tidelord: Formerly present, famously off to get milk. World map indicates that the Tidelord was in the Spiral Keep burbling prophecies to the surface, though one can infer that most were caught by seers before they even reach the sunlight zone. Tidelord is now missing, with a brief message heard about some Shade-based threat that he's focusing on.
It might be my Fire bias leaving me with few thoughts about Water, and it might be that Water is so front-and-center in discussions about the presence of the Eleven that there's not much I could add to the conversation. Water is rife with grief. Other Flights with non-present gods have had their entire existence to adapt to a land with an unresponsive caretaker, and Earth Flight was left with at least a message, but Tidelord simply vanished. The depths have probably never felt this abyssal to them.
---
Windsinger: No map location infers that he lives there, the closest approximation of him being that giant kite-train that looks like him. Fitting, because Wind Flight has always portrayed themselves as ever-moving.
He's the first deity that I like to think is all around. Not literally every breeze is his carefree slithering, but Windsinger is most certainly well-travelled. Wind Flight likely has their own myths and stories of varying accuracy of being visited by the Windsinger in some way, usually by eccentric drakes that come and go without a care in the world.
---
Icewarden: Again, no map location. No story location, either. His contribution to the Voices thread tells us nothing, and besides the festival + old registration week posts, Icewarden's only all-flight forum post was telling people that his tiny ears are Not Cute.
Ice Flight doesn't seem to mind that their deity isn't tangible, but it means there's much left to the imagination. He's not up there helping his children keep these magical horrors contained, so what is he doing? Is he hibernating? You mouse over his icon and he says "The Cold Reclaims," is he planning an attack on Fire and/or Arcane? Perhaps the most realistic theory, is that he's holding something even greater prisoner; a piece of the Shade that even the Eleven could not conquer or drive off together.
Whatever it is, Ice Flight seems content to keep up their work for it.
---
Stormcatcher: Bossman is in the Spire. Specifically, the Conductor. Lightning is famous for having their deity reside alongside them, moreso than any other Flight.
Lightning structured their society around Stormcatcher's desire to harvest the power of the storm, something that appears to have a grand purpose according to this post in Lightning's forums from Thrage in 2013. Finding it on an old tumblr post inspired me to make this one, even though it's very old lore and might not be canon anymore.
Image Description: A text-only post by Thrage, the former Admin with the Hainu (Dog-like) icon. The following text will have the glitched apostrophes removed for clarity.
"re: Arcane Vs Lightning
Those of you who have stated that Lightning and Arcane dragons would not get along are absolutely spot on to the intent behind the attitudes of the Flight. If Arcane dragons are Cold War America, the Lightning Flight is Cold War USSR, If that makes any sense. Both have the ability to seriously damage the world, only one has actually done so. Both seek to do the same things - become a superpower, become the most technologically advanced society on the planet, etc - but have very, very different thoughts about the best way to do that. Magic is a faith of sorts. Not a religion per se, but it's thought that belief in magic can make it stronger, and increase its effects on you for good or bad. Arcane are the most magically potent dragons around, and Lightning are arguably the least. Arcane believes in power through magic, Lightning believes in power through science.
If you'll remember, the first thing that happened when the gods were tossed from the pillar after the Arcanist inadvertently called down the Shade was the Stormcatcher dusting himself off, basically saying "Well, I knew that wouldn't work," and flying off to pursue more effective methods of keeping the Shade at bay, not through magic, but through engineering and innovation.
You're also right in the intent behind Lightning and Fire. Both are heavily industrious, and would get along swimmingly."
(End Description)
There's a lot in this post, but the important part is that Stormcatcher's tangible involvement with his Flight is directly tied to how he believes the Shade will best be kept at bay. His presence on the Spire is no accident; if he were to disappear into a Stormcloud he would be essentially sloughing off his duties.
If Lightning's denizens are aware of Stormcatcher's intent, then they would almost certainly continue maintaining his machinations in such a theoretical absence, whether it had come at the dawn of the Fourth Age or unexpectedly in the middle. Progress must be attained at any cost; the world depends on it!
...And my favourite part, if he ever left for any meaningful amount of time, Stormcatcher might return to a Unionized workforce.
---
Lightweaver: Lightweaver sits upon the Beacon of the Radiant Eye, according to the map. I can't find anything that would suggest she has changed location, nor has she at present acknowledged Luminax. Her old forum posts are plentiful and casual and make no mention to her current state of being. I miss when the deities talked to us...
Anyway. Her presence is likely an active one, though not active enough to stop Luminax. Imperial's encyclopedia page describes them as being "conspicuously absent" from the immediate area of the Beacon despite having been created there, and Lightweaver has been very clear that Imps were a "mistake." I recall some of the devs hinting at what Lightweaver was doing to rectify this mistake, though FR and tumblr both have search engines that leave something to be desired, so I can't provide proof for this one.
If I could find info on the old lair loc descriptions, I'd say that she is stated to welcome the travellers that she watches for upon her post, but the wiki is fruitless (unsurprising for the host site). So, either I'm misremembering, or she's always only watched and waited.
---
Shadowbinder: No map location, no story location. What good would it be if you could find the goddess of shadows and trickery in one reliable spot?
I enjoy the thought of Shadowbinder having similar folklore around her to Windsinger; that she's visited you and you have never noticed. Her acolytes are tricksters, the most devoted of them so good at their games that they themselves are probably the source of several individual visits, never to take credit for the endeavours.
If the Shadowbinder was to ever disappear, I have strong doubts that anyone would notice for ages unless sunlight returned to the Tangled Wood in her absence.
---
Arcanist: World Map states that he's in the Observatory, and we get two lore blurbs that confirm this instead of just one. There are no story beats in lore that insinuate he's even reacted to his favourite little paper-eaters coming back home.
However, the Observatory is a pretty important place. Arcane Flight loves the stars in a manner unlike any other Flight, so of course they would be in regular contact with him. Arcanist isn't stated to be doing anything else, though, so its possible that he's the only one who actually gets to use the telescope. And honestly, if it's large enough for him to use, I don't think anyone else is gonna be capable of it. I've always wondered what Arcane does with the information he gathers, whether he's writing it down for his librarians to catalogue, or murmurming statistics and coordinates that his scribes ceaselessly record in hopes of deciphering them into a breakthrough one day.
---
Gladekeeper: Given that the Behemoth is canonically theorised to either Gladekeeper's living quarters or be "her mighty flank," I think it's safe to say that not knowing exactly where she might be is important to Nature Flight's lore.
Her presence is probably thought of in the abstract, as though each garden was the very essence of Nature taking root. It's clear that in the lore, the health of living things is of the utmost importance to Nature dragons (though they do focus on plants) so trying to make sure Gladekeeper has plenty of life abound to honour her seems like a combination of worship and dominance for the Nature element.
To give her tangible presence would be to undermine the strength of life itself. There have always been plants on sornieth; the very world the First Eight created sustained it just fine. Gladekeeper came into being when there was an excess of magical energy AND an absence of conscious elemental gods to stop the Arcanist, likely mimicking the primal conditions that the other elements manifested their deities in. Life was so mundane that it needed Arcanist's help to do that, and Arcanist was so good at ending the world that he did so twice. Which brings me to...
---
Plagebringer: She's in the soup baybee!!! World map might not be literal about ANY of these locations but it says she stirs the Wyrmwound, making more and more infectious diseases to blight Sornieth. I think that's as clear a sign as any that you can see her laughing maniacally in the middle on a good day.
Plague is ROT and there's never been a Flight so enthused about their element like they are! Everything you hear from them is seemingly about the cycle of death (also known as the cycle of life to those posies in Nature), so while Plaguebringer is right where one can go see her, they probably venerate her in much the same way as Nature venerates Gladekeeper, just uglier to the common drake. I love you, Plaguelings. Never stop.
I don't think her having a physical presence undermines life's strength like Gladekeeper's would. This bias might be from the fact that I live in one of the most well-forested urban areas on Earth, but life as you and I know it is overpowering! Plants and animals dominated over fungus eons ago; they have been pushed into much less visible roles. Decomposers are small and hard to notice when they're not actively doing their job, or are simply looked at as "failed hunters" like how vertebrate scavengers are looked down upon.
The embodiment of rot and decay having a physical presence in this world makes perfect sense, else life would only be seen in full bloom. Plague embraces digestion to remind the world that life's beauty is grown on their hard work, because if no one is here to remind us of that fact, something will have grown over it in days.
