#dreamdragon

You were asleep in your bed when you suddenly heard a sound, which caused you to jolt awake, your eyes shooting around. Huh? Oh... that was someone knocking? You yawn and rub at your eyes.

Who would be knocking at this time? You stretch out on the bed, slip out of it, and walk towards the door. You didn't have anything planned to be delivered today, right? At least, you didn't think so.

When you opened the door you saw a Bitty Inc worker holding a few boxes. They look at you and smile, "Good morning! I'm here to deliver your Bitties," they hold out the clipboard for you to sign.

Wait what? Did you... did you adopt Bitties? No, that makes no sense! You never signed up to get the Bitties, this was weird. "Uhh... O...Okay?" you mumble, writing down your name.

"Thank you for signing," The worker says, then hands you the boxes and they turn, walking off to get back to the car. You watch them go, then look down at the boxes again.

Okay... Alright, you have Bitties now. How many did you have? These were big boxes! You walk over to the living room and set down the boxes starting to open them to look through them. Once you got the Bitties out of all of the boxes, you look them over. The first one was a Nightmare Bitty, you could tell by the goop that covered his body. The next was purple, that was... that was a Passive Bitty, right?

The next one had tentacles coming from its mouth, and the tentacles were covered in eyes that were closed. It was colored red. Then one in a nice-looking suit, too many golden rings, and a lighter shade of goop than normal Nightmare.

Then a little dragon Bitty, shiny and black, one that was a mer creature. He had a faint glow to his tentacles and long dark dark hair...

Oh no...

Did they give you all Nightmare Bitties?! You had 14 Bitties now? You can't... these were all hard ones! They weren't for beginners. You've never had a Bitty before! Maybe you could... maybe you should take them back? Call the Bitty Inc and explain that there was a mistake? You put your hands on your cheeks feeling panic and confusion.

When you heard the noises start, you uncover your face looking at them. The Bitties were starting to wake up, all letting out their own little sounds. Nightmare was the one that opened his eye first, sitting up and he looks around then looks up at you. "You're the one?" he asks, a hint of confusion in his voice, then he looks over at the others, letting out a soft sound of annoyance.

Passive was the one to wake up next, squirming but opening his eyes too and looking around. His eyes widen when he saw all the others then stands up and moves closer to you, so you rest your hand down on the table which he climbs into. Okay... guess he felt a little uncomfortable around all of them. Nightmare was glaring at him.

All of Oxi's eyes open too, starting to scan the area. Slowly everyone woke up and Moonlight messes with his fingers, his eyes shooting around then up, "Did you adopt us?" He moves a little closer to Delusion cause they seemed the most similar.

"I... I guess I did?" You look over at Deep, the mer creature, and you lift up the bag going to get the tank out from your garage. Everyone just has a tank in their garage... right? Cause I did.

It took a few hours to get everything ready, and you learned their names. Nightmare, Passive, Oxi, Gloom, Envy, Dracul, Deep, Delusion, Nightfall, Oblivion, Shade, Moonlight, Thorn, and Bane. Bane was a Papyrus Nightmare counterpart, Nightfall came from Dreamtale and he was still asleep because it was during the day... Gloom seemed unhappy to be there though you had a feeling that he would just be unhappy altogether.

Envy seemed pleased, talking with Dracul and Oblivion. Oblivion and Nightmare started trying to fight each other and Delusion, Passive, and Moonlight all stuck to themselves not wanting to be around the other nightmares.

Oxi kept trying to wrap his tentacles around Thorn who kept having to move away from him, letting out sounds of distress. Oxi just laughed and you had to lift it away from the others, telling it to stop messing with the others. Oxi just laughed at you.

The Herds Overview

First things first, there are actually four herds and each are based around one of the pandoric circles (star, moon, sun, lightning) and have a lot of history that tends to be forgotten given they’re horses. This doesn’t deviate a ton from in game overall but the “foresters” are called “woodkeepers” because while yes, forester is an accurate name I personally associate it more with the word “deforestation” and lumber jacking, removal of trees, ect. I also feel like “forester” just sounds way more human than something the herds would come up with. So basically it boils down to personal preference.

Obviously these are talking horses, why the hell would they understand human concepts in the first place but ya know what? We’re gonna be doing a lot of stretching of our suspension of disbelief with this anyways since there are certain human elements I’ll still be including just because I like them. Anyhow, the other herds are still called the warriors and mystics and our new sun herd are called the wanderers. (Wow, almost a full set of w’s lol.)

Herds History

Gonna get this out of the way right away, the herds have had incredibly limited contact with humans and as much as I love Gary’s redesign and new backstory, no he and the druids have never interacted with the herds. I won’t say the herds never interacted with humans until very recently but overall humans have been a tiny blip in their history. This is the most grey area in things but I will stand firmly in the fact I want the druids and Gary to have nothing to do with them prior to Az meeting them in my lore and writing. The only other notable human is Hartwood before Az, any other interactions were done outside the valley and were on a one on one basis rather than the whole herd meeting humans. (Besides maybe the wanderers herd due to them leaving.) Also please note, I’m not saying I won’t ever have Gary or anyone else interact with the herds but this is something that would happen after Az’s experiences in the Wildwoods.

So let’s start from the beginning on this, long ago, before Jorvik saw humans as wide spread as they are now, the ancestors of the jorvik wilds roamed across the land. In particular there were a few notable herds living throughout Mistfall, including what is now known as the Redwoods and Wildwoods. This area is massive and the jorvik wilds remained in these areas up until about the 1900′s when suddenly their appearances had dwindled to a rarity. During the 1980s-1990s they were only ever rarely seen in the Redwoods which pushed them further into their mythical status. Overall Jorvik does not consider them extinct due to there being many herds across the island but the specific herds seen in Mistfall were deemed as either gone or having retreated further up into the valley. There is also a separate herd of “embermanes” which hail from even further up north, closer to Dino Valley and Garnok’s Fury but we won’t be focusing on them here. Also of note, it’s been deemed impossible to make it to the Wildwoods Valley due to the impenetrable nature of the mountains surrounding it. There is also some sort of disturbance that makes attempts at using electronics and other means of surveying the area without humans impossible.

Now again, this is huge spoilers territory for the fic so if you don’t want the ending surprises revealed, please skip this part of the history. Jorvik wilds by default cannot speak. No natural horse on jorvik can speak and any jorvik wilds that are not from the bloodline of the Wildwoods herds also cannot. I personally dislike talking horses and especially talking animals that do so vocally. I much prefer a mental link so that is how I made the “talking” work with my Wildwoods lore. The herds of the valley are capable of human level sentience and speech via psychic telepathy. There’s a catch however, it requires one to be either a wild whisperer or well versed in pandorian “magic” or energy.

The reason for this is because the jorvik wilds from the Wildwoods are not 100% horse, they have some pandoric heritage and in fact, the pandorians who started this still exist within the herds and are the ones who become their leaders and elders. I’ll likely go over the actual history of the Wildwoods specifically in another post since this’ll already be stupid long. But basically long story short, 4 pandorians, one of each circle arrived in the area and took on the forms of the local wildlife (horses, deer, squirrels, ect) in order to survive in our dimension. Overtime they stopped taking on the appearance of other animals and purely acted as horses. The process of going through the life cycle to survive caused the pandorians to eventually forget their origins and overtime believe they were just another horse in the herd.

This is my explanation for the speaking ability, their human level intelligence and partially why they have certain human-ish skills and tools. It’s a stretch but at least one I’m comfortable making. The current pandorians in my fic are Crabapple, Alder, Strongheart and an unknown wanderer leader. (The wanderers herd is absent and I haven’t developed them yet.)

Woodkeepers

The most peaceful of the four herds, the woodkeepers are dedicated to the plants and the Sentinel. They focus most on understanding the natural world around them as it is and studying flora. Most in the herd keep some sort of garden or tend to a specific patch of plants they call their own. Juniper specifically cares for a small garden of marigolds gifted to him by Rocco for example. Speaking of Juniper, he is the current leader of the woodkeepers with Crabapple being their head elder of the herd. Other notable members include Rosemary as well as Twig and Sapling, her apprentices.

The woodkeepers are responsible for producing much of the extra food the herds need to sustain themselves in the remote valley. Many of their crop gardens are located around the outskirts of Tailtop where the woodkeepers called home before the unrest across the herds began. Following the fall of Tailtop, the herd is the only one that remotely still uses the small village, with many having moved away to the furthest southern edge of the valley. They also used to act as the main healers of Tailtop before the separation of the herds where they worked alongside the mystics to produce remedies, salves and tend to wounds and other injuries.

While they are the most peaceful of the herds, Juniper struggles to keep the younger members from lashing out in frustration against the other two herds. Namely against the Mystics as they have become completely cut off from the Sentinel whom they used to care for. They also tire of the warriors stampeding through their territory, ruining their gardens at times and blocking access to outside of the valley, preventing them from collecting new plants. The woodkeepers on the other hand reduce how much of their crops they ration to the other herds as a more subtle way of punishing them for their disrespectful actions. They have also grown incredibly protective over the flora they have control over, causing Juniper to run ragged trying to keep the peace between his herd and the others.

The woodkeepers do in fact have some limited basket weaving but this is heavily handled by the squirrels due to them having more dexterous limbs. Some horses might be able to do some work with their mouths but the majority of baskets are made by squirrels. They also use bark for packaging items and when getting along with the other herds, make use of some of items crafted by the warriors for transport.

Mystics

Out of all the herds, the mystics are the most in tune with the energy and magic of the world around them. They look to the stars for guidance, commune with the Sentinel and create potions, and such to aid the other herds. The most gifted of the herd are able to foresee glimpses of the future, either via the stars or through dreams. All members of the herd are responsible for care and worship of the Sentinel and work to maintain the shrines and offerings to the tree.

However once the strife began between the herds, they soon started cutting off access to the tree and with it, started preventing any outside of the mystics from traveling too close to it. This caused a lot of commonly used paths to become practically unusable to any outside of the mystics herd and greatly infuriated the other two herds, especially the warriors who had to travel the most across the valley. The prevention of accessing and interacting with the Sentinel especially upset the woodkeepers who had been the herd that tended the most to the tree physically. However the mystics began to claim they didn’t truly understand how to take care of it, blocking any from the other herd from interacting with the great tree.

They now solely reside in the marshy fens in the center of the wildwoods and around the lake. They focus heavily on building shrines and mostly communing with the Sentinel to the point that there are very few mystics who still practice their other traditions. Some within the herd have grown increasingly concerned but with the unrest they dare not bring it up as they are already on edge having to protect their guardian tree from the other two herds already let alone causing problems within their own herd. Notable members include Alder, Willow, Ziggy and Star.

Mystics craft incense and as aforementioned, potions and other specially made items. They also focus a lot on building shrines and making offerings for the Sentinel and by extension, Aideen. They do not have any form of metalworking as seems to be in game but do likely have some limited wood carving like the warriors thanks to the squirrels. They also likely make nets and do weaving, making blankets that are often patterned and dyed using materials from within the Wildwoods. Again, much of this is helped thanks to the squirrels but some limited and simplified means are handled by the horses themselves. 

Side note, the squirrels are pretty intelligent themselves and while I don’t talk much about them and kinda gloss over them because I don’t want to add more characters, they are basically adopted into each herd as full fledged members if they so wish to be. Ziggy is the one who interacts with them most but hasn’t popped up in the fic so I haven’t actually developed much related to them. But they do play a large part in the day to day lives of all three of the herds still in the valley.

Warriors

The strongest of the three herds, the warriors a powerful, honor bound and tradition centered herd. They have a less than stellar reputation amongst the other herds due to typically being more aggressive and rather stubborn. The warriors seek to keep their land and those living within it safe and often patrol the edges and especially guard the entrances to the valley to prevent anything from getting in and in more recent times, getting out. They also uphold the ideas of honor and tradition very highly and will fight anything that threatens those.

Warriors spar daily to keep their bodies strong and their fighting skill sharp. There is a phenomenon with their specific herd where when one comes of age they will have dark, typically black stripes form across their fur. This is noticeable even on black coated horses where the stripes will still appear as a subtle but still darker part of the coat. When a member of the herd doesn’t have their stripes come in they are often treated as an outcast and honorless. “Stripeless runt” is a common insult to those who do not receive stripes.

Another set of traditions include earning one’s mask and playing their “heartsong” upon the massive drum the herd maintains. The mask is crafted by the herd’s squirrels and is made specifically for that horse when they are fully grown. It is created from the redwood trees and is carved to resemble animal skulls, often with horns and tusks adorning them. They are dyed either bone white or charred black and the traditional paints are added before the whole piece is completed. They are surprisingly resilient against the wear of time and weather and will be attached to the horse’s head via a simple leather string.

The “heartsong” is a drum performance done by herd members when they are officially integrated into the herd and may take place before one receives their mask. The whole herd gathers around the stump and the horse who is to perform must launch themselves onto it and stomp/dance upon the drum. The song they play is one that comes naturally and is described as coming from the heart. The sound of it will reveal their true intentions and if done “correctly” the current leader will welcome them into the herd. Those who fail must go through many more trials before they might be considered worthy of joining.

As for the current fighting, the warriors heavily control the movement in and out of the valley as well as regularly patrol the land. This causes a lot of issues with the other herds not only in that they cannot leave but also in that many of the current warriors have little respect for anyone else’s belongings. Some will even run straight through gardens, knock over shrines and so forth because of how little care they have. If it does not pertain to their traditions, it is unimportant. In turn, they’re incredibly frustrated with the mystics for limiting their movement in the valley. The warriors live in the gallop plains section, far to the north and so movement down and around the valley is very important given they don’t have a centralized location like the mystics do. They also grow incredibly irritated at the woodkeepers for their rationing of crops and lack of respect for maintaining the valley’s safety. Notable members include Rocco, Strongheart, Ash and Pepper.

Warriors do not have a “pot smashing” thing, I get it’s kind of a cute zelda reference but I really didn’t care for it so I removed it from my lore (also the thought of all those shards scattered about bothers me.) Like I could see them crafting incredibly simplified pottery but instead I think they have means of making very simple leather working and wood carving instead.

(These guys are pretty much the most developed since I’ve done the most writing about them in the fic thus far lol. Hopefully will be releasing said writing soon!)

Wanderers

The least well known herd, they mostly existed long before the issues that cropped up in valley because they have since disappeared entirely. The history of a fourth herd has become almost rumor and myth by modern day because of how long it has been since they left. All that was known was the leader of the wanderers could no longer stand staying purely within the valley and over time the herd or individual members would continue to leave and come back. One day, they finally left permanently and haven’t been seen or heard of since. As the name implies, they are a very nomadic herd and refuse to call one location home. They are horses born with a spirit to wander and explore, unable to stay put and grow uncomfortable if confined. Some foals are still born however connected to this herd but often rarely know it as they have no one to relate to in the valley who feels the urge to travel like they do. Either they repress their feelings or the desire takes control and urges them to finally escape, fleeing out into the wild world beyond in search of answers to the calling in their heart.

(This is the least developed herd because my current ideas are that they are not even within the south-western part of Jorvik but have actually moved north west past Northlink.)

Other Jorvik Wild Horses

I don’t have a lot of development for other wild horses but embermanes do exist and the standard jorvik wild is not at all like the herds of the Wildwoods. Natural jorvik wilds, the embermanes included, do not speak and do not have human level sentience nor intelligence. They do tend to be a bit more intelligent than the average horse, this is especially true for any born as a soul breed (all of the Wildwoods horses are soul breeds btw.) Normal jorvik wild horses typically share similar appearances but this will change depending on their location and such. The breed evolves a bit depending on their region, especially for any that reside up by Dino Valley like the embermanes. The unnatural coloration of horses like the mystics however only occurs when a jorvik wild is exposed to concentrated pandoric energy.

Embermanes are much like the typical jorvik wild except for the fact they do have slightly higher intelligence, are typically born as a soulbreed more often than normal jorvik wilds and have a natural affiliation with fire. Their coats are surprisingly well suited for both the harsh cold around Dino Valley as well as the intense heat of the volcanic area around Garnok’s Fury. They also have a strange ability where they are actually rather flame resistant but are not completely immune to fire or heat. Embermanes are known, mostly by the Wildwoods herds, as keepers of fire. They are typically only seen outside of their natural habitat when there are forest fires. The breed acts as a guardian of sorts, surveying the land and either causing or preventing fires depending on where its needed. It is unknown why this happens or how they are able to do it as it is something rarely seen outside of the most rural parts of Jorvik, typically those not touched by humans. They are always drawn to fire due to their instincts which call them to protect the land which is how Az met the one she did during her journey on Jorvik.

Jorvik Wild Physiology & Magic

Jorvik wild horses as they are colloquially known are the general catch all term for any fully wild breed on the island. In modern day this is predominantly only applied to the species in the wildwoods and their relatives outside of it with a similar overall appearance. Feral horses go by a different term (undecided at this time personally) but are not grouped under the JWH name. (JWH being the common acronym for them.) Jorvik wilds are identifiable by their body which heavily resembles their ancestral and primal roots. They are direct descendants of the original wild horses on the island and come in all sorts of colors because of this.

Overall JWH’s are a large, heavily musclar horse with thick fur and manes that vary from long, rough and shaggy to an almost lion like barbary mane which covers the full neck and chest. Some manes also only grow out into a short spikey mess along the top of the neck. Excess hair tends to grow along the chest and stomach as well. Some horses for unknown reasons also have a lion or “unicorn” like tail where the tail bone extends farther and only has hair along the underside or near the very tip, giving it a traditional unicorn look.

Typically, specific traits do align with certain groups and environments and diet do affect the breed over time. The horses in the Wildwoods already vary quite a bit between their coloring and other traits with warriors even having strange black stripes appearing over their bodies verses the often blue tinted mystics. However the blue coloration appears to be related to their proximity to the pandoric energies coming from their environment. Breeds outside the Wildwoods also feature unique traits that have evolved overtime due to their habitats.

Beyond the easily identifiable traits, jorvik wilds also have a unique diet from most other horses. While all of them do still eat forage, namely grasses, some actually eat fish and meat as a more regular part of their diet. These horses typically display changes to their teeth to accommodate their needs. In the Wildwoods especially, warriors tend to eat the most meat along with fish and foliage, mystics prefer fish and plants most and typically get most of their food from the lake while woodkeepers have a far more typical diet consisting of many different kinds of plants. All three Wildwoods herds however do display sharper teeth for ripping into fleshy meals when needed and it is a trait that is shared across almost all other jorvik wilds. The fish and animals they eat however are rarely larger than a rabbit with most JWH that do eat meat going after small rodents or birds. Of course, given the companionship between the herds and squirrels of the woods, they do not touch any squirrel regardless of its intelligence or allegiances.

As for magic, overall most jorvik wilds both within and without the Wildwoods are either incapable or unaware of magic use. Mystics are the most in tune but typically at best will use whatever magic they do have for scrying or visions. Magic amongst horses (except for pandorians) is typically something that only comes naturally and is often limited due to level of intelligence. Soul breeds by default are of higher intelligence than the average horse and every Wildwoods JWH is in fact a soul breed due to their connection to the pandorians who joined them. However most if not all are unaware of how to truly tap into any magic they may be capable of.

Overall, mystics are connected to the moon circle, hence why they are capable of receiving visions, usually via the stars or dreams. Pandorians are capable of causing hallucinations or making illusions but there are no known jorvik wilds able to do this. Woodkeepers are of the star circle which grants them incredible healing abilities and some control over plant life and other living matter. For the horses it appears more as a means of accelerating growth but most of the best healers in the Wildwoods are “naturally gifted” woodkeepers. 

The warriors are of the lightning circle, and the striped markings across their backs are likely connected to this. They don’t have magic that is as apparent as some of the other herds (much like the wanderers) and instead most of it is expressed in their physical forms. Warriors are often the fastest and strongest of the four herds. There are legends though of warriors who had an attunement to storms and could possibly even summon lightning. Last but not least, the wanderers who are the least known herd are those of the sun circle. The circle calls them to explore and wander. They are also among the most susceptible to pandoric influence due to their circle being connected to condensed pandoric energy and rift formation. The expression of any actual magic abilities by this breed is unheard of at least as far as was known in the Wildwoods before their departure. It’s unknown how the herd fares outside of the wood however.

Burn: It used to like humans and would even sometimes play with them, in a way that dragons played of course, but then the humans lashed out in fear and they tore its wings! Now it cannot really fly all that well, if at all, so it avoids humans as best it can… it is a shockingly kind red dragon, even though it has killed quite a few people in the past. Most of them were in a way to protect itself, however.

Arman: Oh, yeah, Arman loves humans! Finds them really fun and enjoyable to mess with. He likes how tiny and cute they are when he's in his dragon form. Sometimes when people are going through the swamp that he calls his own, he'll mess with them. Either by tripping them up, or sometimes scaring them. He just finds it really funny! Haha.

Levi: Avoids at all costs. As a purple dragon, he has never been seen by the human eye before.

Chua: As a gold dragon, he can smell family bloodlines! If he met someone before that treated him kindly, he would keep their family members safe. But if someone treated him unkindly, he may not. He believes that all humans can be good, even if they don't see it, and he will try to help them see that they can be. If they attack him, however, he will not hold back.