#rifter replies

YEA Quartz Sphinx!!

the 2 core members are Bree and Klaxon.

Klaxon had been a solo artist for a while, mostly doing vocal work and occasionally pairing up with other musical acts around the Flat in a transitory way. nothing really stuck and Klaxon felt like he would kind of just float around like that for a while. the saloon is known for having the occasional "open stage night" where local talent can come around to showcase either their music or poetry or some kind of performance of that general variety, and Klaxon would both show up as a regular during these nights to perform as well as stay and watch the other performers.

one of these nights, Bree showed up to play. Klaxon immediately fell in love with Bree's banjo work and was compelled to approach him. since both of them have supernatural and slightly sinister explanations for their musical ability, they were initially very cautious of each other, but very quickly formed a tight professional/working relationship once they cottoned on to their similarities. they've never talked about their abilities outright in That Way, but y'know. they can tell.

the idea of a proper band followed soon after, mostly because the saloon's proprietor, Madrigal, basically just said you boys oughta start a band. no one is sure if he meant it, but the idea had merit, and Quartz Sphinx was born shortly thereafter. they originally just stuck to playing the open stage nights, but when Madrigal saw how much extra business they drew in, he offered them a regular schedule at the saloon and things just kind of took off from there.

ALL of them but among the truly adorable are Strawfoot (imp, she/her) and Buckshot (SD, she/her).

Strawfoot is a thaumaturge whose specialty lies in enchanting handwriting, usually her own though any handwritten work will do. she made a lot of trouble for herself in the Sunbeam Ruins causing rich people's wills, contracts, and other written deeds to blow up, among other things. Strawfoot was eventually caught at her crimes, magically bound and exiled from the Ruins. she had meant to cross into the Isles, but ended up running into trouble in the Wasteland, where she was aided by Buckshot, a local monster wrangler and general badass.

the two hit it off and Strawfoot soon forgot to go to the Isles at all. they've had some bumps in the road (mostly to do with Strawfoot's past) but they have managed to sort the worst of it out. Buckshot put all her earnings towards buying one of them fancy house kits and they built a small house together near the edge of the Flat (the town where most of my lore happens).

the Flat of Her Hand (aka the Flat) is the town in which most of my dragons live and where the most organised civilisation happens. the original structures of the Flat, which are mostly some old houses and a mysterious church building that has since been converted into a saloon, pre-date the Rifters who currently live there. local lore maintains that Lemon (re)discovered the Flat and for this reason he is largely considered as sort of the "founder" of the town, though of course the town owes its modern existence to a wide variety of people and factors all pulling together to make things work.

in general, however, it's considered at the very least tradition to involve Lemon in anything Big that happens around the Flat. he generally does not throw his weight around very much unless he feels very strongly about something, but he accepts that others view him as a powerful and respectable entity and follows decorum accordingly, giving his blessing to, among other things, important legal proceedings and the unveiling of any new town facilities as the need requires.

ooo I haven't actually written much of this down yet so this oughta be a fun exercise

basically all (*not including Neatsfoot georg, who is an outlier and should not be counted) my spruce/maroon dragons are named after various types of agave (maguey) and in-lore are spirits (yes) who wander the Wasteland.

most of them have features reminiscent of magueys, for example:

Cuixe's beard is made up of young blades of agave Tobala's wings are large and butterfly-like, made of overlapping agave leaves (specifically Agave potatorum) and her companion, a giant toridae, has scutes and scales that are similarly agave-like Pichomel has pale eyes the colour and texture of pulque (a drink made of fermented agave sap) Cenizo has skin the same texture as agave leaves

they don't do much business with dragons aside from the few who seek them out, for example Rodomontade is a self-described "spiritual intercessor" who usually just sells alcohol but also has a close working relaionship with the agave spirits and can act as a go-between for those seeking boons. (the agave spirits all have various powers or areas of influence, for example Cuixe's boon can lead the recipient unerringly to water in the Wasteland.)

they are largely concerned with having a good time amongst themselves (some are more pro-mortals than others and will party with dragons if they cross paths) and acting as fierce protectors of the wilderness.

omg this ask is so cute ;; thank you!

the dragon chasing pigeons and stealing breadcrumbs is 100% BRACKETRACKET.

BRACKET decided to get into the pigeon chasing game under the misguided impression that "being roughly the same size as pigeon" = "pigeon is friend and this is a game of tag I must win", while RACKET, who was not paying attention to any of this and just letting their tongue loll out as per usual, was pleasantly surprised by a breadcrumb landing in their mouth during all the hubbub. the ground is edible?? amazing! eat the ground! chase the pigeons! what a perfect day!

BIG YEAH

ehe :D

some tundra beard fashions under the cut!