Pfp/header by Nigith on FR Hi hello I’m Rane he/him Been on FR since 2018 i'll scry anything!! I have a lore shop, art shop, and adopt shop! I also do lair reviews for 7.5kt/8g per dragon
I've already shared this dragon. Bio under the cut
Smokescreen | Scroll Stories
The shop was at the outskirts of the bazaar, tucked behind an outcropping of rocks. Even so, the haze had drawn a half dozen complaints.
It was no wonder. The wagon was surrounded by small burners, the incense sticks streaming with blue curls of smoke. Even under the open sky, the air was heavy with the smell of resin and cedar.
Khepri glanced at the shopkeeper, a Fae with bamboo-green eyes and a tail that kept twitching like a worm on a string. The Fae kept jerking his gaze from Khepri to the Gaolor that loomed over them both.
A cloud of incense. A nervous shopkeeper. It was a telling combination.
Khepri turned to the Fae. “You’re new at this.”
“Oh,” The Fae’s neck went ramrod straight, and he stared directly into Khepri’s eyes. “Yes. Yes officer, that’s right. I’ve only been in the textile trade for a few months now. They’re sourced straight from the Emberglow Hearth.”
Khepri glanced at the fabrics draped around the wagon. They were flimsy. The colors would fade if they were kept in direct sunlight like this, and they were already saturated with the smell of smoke.
“You don’t have much of an inventory.”
”Ah. Well. Like I said, I’m just getting started. I got a loan from my auntie, and—“
”Officer Milt?” Khepri said.
The Gaoler behind him grunted.
”Search the wagon.”
Milt, with one enormous paw, tipped the entire wagon, sending several crates tumbling onto the ground.
The Fae jumped into the air and began flapping around Milt’s head as she began inspecting the wagon for more inventory.
“Oh no. My auntie’s investment. You can’t do this!”
“Yes we can,” Khepri snapped. “By the authority of the Lady of Light herself. You will land this instant.”
The Fae obeyed, his crests pressed flat against the side of his neck.
There was a delicious crack as Milt used one long claw to splinter open a crate.
The Fae seemed to be telescoping into himself, crumpling his head and tail into unnatural angles. “I know I don’t know my trade as well as I ought, but surely it’s not a crime to--”
”Sir,” Milt said, “I think you should see this.”
Khepri joined her. He leaned over the crate and inhaled the smell that the incense could no longer hide. It was acrid, stinging his nostrils as he breathed it in. Magic.
And there they were. The scrolls were crisp and white, nestled side by side, as neat as pins.
He picked one up, turning it over in his claws. He could see the faint outline of runes that veined under the thin scrolling paper. The wax seal was stamped with the clear profile of a Pearlcatcher.
Milt growled. “Transformation scrolls.”
”Yes,” Khepri looked at the Fae who had frozen mid-twitch. “We do not permit these vulgar transformations within our Flight. According to the Laws of Light, we must burn them.”
The Fae didn’t move.
”Burn them,” Khepri repeated. “All of them.”
After a pause, he added, “You’re entire inventory.”
The Fae was still frozen, staring at Khepri with shock. Milt shifted impatiently.
Khepri glanced over his shoulder. The outcropping of stone hid them well enough. He turned back to the Fae, sighed, and held out his paw.
At last, the Fae snapped into action. He dove into his wagon and returned with a pouch that he spilled into Khepri’s palm.
The facets of the gemstones glittered between Khepri’s claws. There was even a garnet so rich in color that it was nearly purple. He exchanged a glance with Milt.
Khepri tipped the gems back into the pouch. ”As representatives of the Lady of Light, we understand that starting a new business can be difficult.”
“Do you?” The Fae said faintly.
“We do.” Khepri kept sorting through the scrolls. "Plenty of new shopkeepers make mistakes.”
“A mistake,” the Fae repeated. “An honest mistake”
Khepri kept examining the scrolls. Wing scrolls. Hide scrolls. All genuine, and as fine as he’d ever seen. He glanced up at the Fae who had not relaxed. How did such an inexperienced smuggler get a hold of such premium inventory? “It would be unkind of us to deprive you of your stock when you are so new to your trade. I’m sure you will get it sorted out. I’m sure our wise goddess would understand.”
“Yes. Um. Thank you so much. Can you go now?”
Khepri picked up another scroll, inspecting the seal. The wax had not been stamped.
Khepri held the scroll up to the sunlight. It was a trick to decipher the overlapping runes through the roll of paper, but he knew his business. His eyes widened as he made out the pattern.
He shook his head, trying to clear his head of the incense that still hung heavy around them.
“Sir?” Milt asked.
Khepri held up the scroll again, carefully inspecting the runes. He had not been mistaken. “Imperial.” He said.
The Fae jumped straight up, flapping furiously, but Milt brought her paw down on the little dragon’s tail.
“I’m putting the gems back,” Khepri murmured to Milt. She growled softly and kept her eyes fixed on the shaking Fae.
“Am I going to go to trial?” He squeaked.
“You have been found with Imperial scrolls," Khepri said. He set the gems in the wagon, though he slipped the garnet into his own pouch. “You may have earned the honor of meeting the Lady of Light herself.”
OH! oh! This infuriates me SO MUCH you don't even know it's so much worse. All the modern baby poses that SHOULD have colored nails have mistakes like this apart from snapper. All of them. I am so mad ive been mad about this for six years.
I've decided to open a thread for bulk food like it's 2016 because I am not listing all this on the AH. I have tens of thousands of points all sold by the FP at the absolute cheapest prices available (trust me, I spent fifteen minutes price-checking every fp/stack size).
I know some people also get icky about eating certain items cause they're hamsters or whatnot, so for those I'm also happy to trade 1-to-1 for other stuff :)
the first two babies are up for sale at the link above! 300 gems flat, but i could be haggled down :] the next batch of babies should be nested on jan 27th, and hatched feb 1st!
It happened the way it always does: a friend said 'I got sucked back into [thing]' and my monkey brain Activated™. I am apparently extremely impressionable.
I didn't even blink at the fact you'd disappeared from a fandom for almost a decade because I have 100% done that with multiple other fandoms myself before xD
Sometimes we lose interest and then 7 years later someone will mention it and our brains just go 'oH YEAH! THE THING!!'
Do you guys remember when the beastclan retcon first happened and staff had to make an official post asking people to stop mass reporting lore clans. Dozens of people were maliciously mass reporting anyone with canon lore trying to get them banned under the hate/racism rules less than a day after the update dropped and were trying to goad staff into approving it so badly that they had to make a carte Blanche "you can't get in trouble ever for using the old lore" clause.
People literally got bullied off the site for having lore that was 100% canon less than a week ago. It was absolutely insane.
I'm reminded of that every time I see people talk about the new lore updates being kind of boring or conflict avoidant because uh. Because that's why staff writes like this now. The fanbase kind of did it to itself. You can't eat your cake and have it, too.
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