The Ethereal Isle (ShadowWolfJade's Homestead)

[ShadowWolfJade]

Welcome~

This is pretty much going to be a lot of stories. The first few will be introductory. My character, the island, stuff like that. Then I'll be basically throwing a bunch of random stories here for each pet/set of pets in my "The Portal" homestead group. The more WL pets I get, the more stories I'll (eventually) write! (Yay for stories piling up on each other because I procrastinate too much!)

As for posting, while I would prefer there not be much, I suppose I don't really mind at all. All pictures/art in this thread is not mine unless stated otherwise!

This is going to be my creativity dump isn't it... (yea)

[ShadowWolfJade]

The Ethereal Isle

The Ethereal Isle is a C-shaped island off the coast near The Flickering Vales. The island, before Jade stumbled upon it, was undiscovered and empty. There were large amounts of flora and creatures, of course, but there were no signs of any of the four races. On the subject of flora, the island is extremely diverse. There are high mountain ranges, a savanna, a large green forest, beaches and even a small jungle. As well as large meadows and fields. How, exactly, all of these biomes are in such a small area, Jade is unsure.

The Mountains

The Burning Mountains- http://orig11.deviantart.net/c28d/f/2013/134/0/c/mountain_range_sketch_by_ent4ry-d6581cu.jpg
The Burning mountains are named as such for the occasional drakes seen there and the volcanic land that the mountain range neighbors. The Burning mountains border the savanna and the jungle, and there are only two ways to get from one to the other without flying. There's a pass through the mountains that goes from the savanna, through the mountains, and across the volcanic area to the jungle. There's also a cliff pass near the gulf, which is much safer. Then again, you could always risk going though the mountains themselves~

Stovak Mountains- http://www.allaboutdrawings.com/images/mountain-range-21413882.jpg
These mountains hold a bit more mystery. Nearly every type of Eldemore creature is found within the mountains, and they give off almost a sense of uneasiness. The mountains are surrounded by the largest forest on the Ethereal Isle, and break off into The Steps. Other than that, the mountains are just like any other mountains.

Prulm Summit- http://pre03.deviantart.net/a4ea/th/pre/i/2012/298/5/0/mountain_landscape_by_melmo1123-d5ixa9i.jpg
A lone mountain in the middle of the Massive Woods. Jade has never climbed the high peak, but she wants to. Something about the snowy peak seems to be calling to her...

Volcanic Area

http://www.kalapanaculturaltours.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/IMG_3784.jpg(basically what most of the area looks like.)
This area is just what one would expect. A large piece of grey land that has many lava pits. Some right on the surface, some at the bottom of deep holes, all dangerous. There are no volcanos in the area, so the lava must be straight from underground. Just another of the Ethereal Isle's mysteries.

The Beaches

Inner beaches- (http://img12.deviantart.net/71b2/i/2012/231/c/b/tropical_cove_speed_paint_by_jjpeabody-d5bofuw.jpg) (http://www.northlandboy.com/photos/images/abeltasman/fullsize/3.jpg) (http://i.bullfax.com/imgs/ddd6efac6baa038d73db4fd13b8f1b624fffc7e0.jpg)
The pictures are what the beaches generally look like.
These beaches are what make up the long beach in the inner ring on the Gulf of the Isle. They are all costal-tropical beaches that have either slopes leading down to them, or steep cliffs.

Outer beach- A long, white-sanded beach of which the Settlement is build upon, ending at the forest behind said structures.
Ethereal Falls beaches- "The Floating Pearl Beach, right on the entrance to The Gulf the Isle, shielded by the Ethereal Falls."

The Emerald Jungle

https://slm-assets3.secondlife.com/assets/6212595/lightbox/Tropical_Rainforest.jpg?1346957877
A small jungle, compared to the rest of the island, that contains a variety of colors, plants and animals. Very easy to navigate through, though. The Emerald Jungle is named as such not for the color of the jungle, but the rich emerald stone veins that are visible on a cliff within the jungle. (http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20080919/Emerald-Stone-Vein-902043.jpg)

Meadows

(http://far-meadow.com/wp-content/gallery/homepage/home5.jpg) (http://www.mrwallpaper.com/wallpapers/green-meadows.jpg) (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fMIe8ayD6w/ToHdT8LmBTI/AAAAAAAAAUo/zt4Zw4R0DbE/s1600/MeadowSunrise-the+long+goodbye.png)
Miles of greens, blues and browns, as well as the occasional sleipnir herd or lone elkrin. Lakes, rivers, hills make up the meadows, which is a great place for a calm day!

The Savanna

http://www.backdropsfantastic.com/backdrop_images/300's/OA-006-African-Savannah-5.jpg
Ligers are mostly found here, along with species of sleipnir and even dire wolves. Oddly enough, the plains are not quite as hot as one would expect. But this is most likely due to the ocean and gulf near by.

The Ethereal Falls

The Ethereal Falls are, in Jade's opinion, one of the most beautiful things on the island. They are twin falls on either side of the ends of he C-shaped island. They are close enough that they cross each other, thus making it impossible the see the gulf from the outside. Unless you're flying, of course. Each waterfall is freshwater, and large lakes on the elevated island feed them. Those lakes, The Ethereal Lakes, are supplied from an underground source of water. Since the waterfalls are so strong, the only way to get in and out of the gulf would b to swim underwater.

The Gulf of the Isle

A clear blue, costal-like gulf that centers The Ethereal Isle, thus earning it it's name. This gulf is a common place for sea servals and otterlings, but any and most species have been seen on thus gulf's beaches.

Forests

Massive Woods-
Light Woodland-

The Steps

The Steps are a collection of rock formations that slowly lower from the top of the cliff on The Ethereal Isle down to about a foot above the ocean. These 'steps' lead from the island to Eldemore, shallower water in between them. But boats and drakes are still a better transportation method. The last step/first step that connects to Eldemore is within the Flickering Vales.

Settlement

This refers to the group of thirteen buildings on the outer beach, facing Eldemore. Only two of these building currently have purpose, and that purpose is Jade's supply storage. Other buildings are supposedly empty, but are kept closed with doors, all with a keyless lock.



There are also several lakes and rivers scattered around the Isle. There's even a swamp-like area near the Light Woodland.

[ShadowWolfJade]

Jade Shadowa

^Above pictures, do in fact belong to/were drawn by me~

Name: Jade Shadowa
Gender: Female (she, her, etc.,)
Race: Elvian (sort of, she's a 'three-forths-blood', I suppose. Half-born and elvian parents)
Homeland: Lives with family in a forest home within the Flickering Vales
Age: Looks 24, generally keeps age a secret
Personality: On the outside, Jade is very reclusive. She keeps to herself, avoids much interaction, and can be rather socially-awkward. Her constantly pulled-down black cloak shows her shyness. But she tends to be different around family and those she trusts greatly, be them mostly creatures and not people. When comfortable, Jade is rather sarcastic, talkative and generally in a good mood, despite her occasional high temper.
Jade loves nature. Creatures, plants, views of mountains in the distance. She seems to have a specific admiration of everything beautiful in nature or in the world around her. This means that she observes a lot, often seeing what others look over.
But, due to her odd parentage, she tends to be a bit... withdrawn. Being an elvian, but not quite an elvian. Being a human, but not really a human. Being a halfborn, but not even really being that. Sometimes, Jade will get caught up in her thoughts, and start to go into a short state of self-loathing, feeling as if she didn't belong anywhere. This is especially spurred on when she sees her usually-hidden, darker green eye.
In all, Jade has three main personalities. Shy, adventurous and mentally withdrawn.
History: Jade's father is an Elvian, a proud emissary who met her mother on one of his many travels. Her mother, however, is not an Elvian. Nor is she a human, as most would expect. Her mother was a traveler as well, but she was an Elvian halfborn. This meant that Jade is a bit odd, being almost all Elvian, but not quite. Her odd racial status didn't really effect her much at first, as her small family lives in a house in the large forest of the Flickering Vales. This meant little interaction. But then her father began taking her into cities and villages (As well as, of course, Elvian kingdoms) while he was running errands. Give her a feel for the outside world. She was asked a lot of questions about her odd appearance, and she could hear small whispers about her. Some observing remarks... some hurtful ones. As she got older, she understood more and more how much she didn't fit in. Jade was almost all elvian, but it was that little bit of human blood that made her life complicated. She even gave herself the title 'The three-forths-blood' at one point. She grew up learning about everything she could, seeing as much as she could and most of all experiencing everything she could. At the age her parents would allow, she set off with her new sleipnir, Khax. On her way to become a Rune Bearer.
Appearance: Jade has long, golden-brown hair that she's never cut much. Her eyes are both green. Granted, one is noticibly darker than the other, as she isn't exactly a trueborn. Instead of the human ears of her mother or the cervine ears of her father, Jade has odd, obvious, pointed ears. As if her ears were stuck between human and cervine. As for her skin, she is lightly tanned naturally, and has some darker brown, small fawn spots on her face, neck and shoulders. Her hair is in her face a lot, covering her darker green eye, as she gets enough questions about her ears as is. She is of average height, if not a bit taller, and of average weight.
She often wears her black hooded cloak, hood up, hiding her face in shadows. Jade has a belt that contains her sword(named Azura) and a pair of twin daggers. On her back, she will also sometimes carry a white-gemmed bow on her back of which she refers to as 'Crystallite'. If not on her back, then attached to her sleipnir's saddle.
Azura- http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu7/ ... aaxgbr.jpg
http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu7/ ... xc42lc.jpg
^both above drawn by me
Daggers- http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu7/ ... g4iykx.png
Crystallite- http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu7/ ... d4zu5o.jpg
Random Fact: Jade's a light kleptomaniac (Yay, stealing!)

The rest will be up for interpretation, I suppose. The stories will be told in 1st person, mostly, for my own preference~

[ShadowWolfJade]

Finding the Isle

I had woken up that morning with more energy than usual. And rightfully so. I went to bed early the night before, very rare for me, so I could wake up without having to drag myself through the morning. Walking downstairs, the first thing I saw was my father's bonded creature, a white-tailed elkrin, and my mother's companion creature, a white dire wolf. Both animals, oddly, were allowed access to the house.
"Good morning, Jade. Sleep well?" My mother said as soon as she saw me and what I assumed was bed hair. I rolled my eyes and smiled, going down the rest of the stairs to hug her.
"Yeah, I suppose. I have a pretty long journey to get done in a short amount of time, so I figured I'd better not stay up all night." I heard my father chuckle from the living room where he was petting his elkrin, Lenna, who was on the couch. Seeing this, my mother rolled her eyes and muttered to herself about the elkrin taking up too much space on the couch.
I smiled at the exchange and went back upstairs to brush my hair out. That and get ready to go.
After about an hour, I was dressed up and ready to leave. I came back downstairs and walked into the kitchen where my bag was set, full of everything I needed.
"Okay, I'm heading out, see you in a day, hopefully," I said as I hugged my parents, saying the last part to myself as I turned towards the kitchen and grabbed my bags.
"Is that all you're taking with you?" My mom asked as she sat down on the chair near the couch.
"Oh," I looked at my bag, "no, this is just some stuff. I have all my food in Khax's saddlebags."
"I still think you should bring an elkrin, just saying..." My dad said to 'himself' as he stroked Lenna's nose.
"Then you shouldn't have given me a sleipnir!" I said, and with that I was out the door.

I walked out back to the small green pasture where the family's three sleipnirs and two elkrin were kept. A particular grey mountain sleipnir was looking right at me as I walked out towards the fence surrounding the animals.

"Hey Khax..." I whispered, jumping over the fence and stroking the horse on the nose. Khax nudged my hand gently, and I quickly jumped up onto the saddle that I'd put on Khax the night before, bags attached. 'He should be used to the weight by now...' I thought as I motioned for Khax to jump over the fence and start towards the sea.
Many hours and several breaks later, I started to smell the ocean, just barely. I scratched my pointed ear and took one more bite of bread before I nudged Khax's side with my heel, telling him to speed up. Four legs reared up and Khax ran forward towards the ocean.
It was only a matter of minutes before I could see the ocean, and we were out of the forest and onto the sand. I could even see the boat(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/21/f5/f2/21f5f2a913c8a591a07ac82847e2f134.jpg, but less modern-looking) that I had payed someone to bring to this spot. It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. 'Plus, I have a boat now!' I thought to myself, smiling as I slowed Khax down and rode him towards where the boat was pushed up onto the sand and tied to a large stone.
I stopped Khax at the rock and hopped off, boots hitting the sand below. I unsheathed my dagger, cut the rope and sheathed my dagger in one quick movement, watching as the boat shifted slightly.
I felt something sniff at my hair, and I turned to see Khax staring at me.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm hurrying..." I mumbled, not sure why he was getting impatient. 'It's not like he's coming with me on the boat...' I thought, remembering that I was to leave Khax at the shore.
I detached the saddlebags of food from Khax's saddle and started off towards the boat, seeing I could climb in from the back which was facing me.
"Khax, I'm going to need a little help with this boat. I need to get it more in the water." I heard Khax give the sleipnir equivalent of a sigh before trotting up next to me. I placed my hands on the boat, ready to push, and Khax put his shoulder up on the boat, ready to push. We started to push against the wooden boat, loosening it from the ground and let it drift off a little ways into the water, but still enough to be able to reach.
"Okay Khax," I started, walking through the water and climbing up on the boat, "I shouldn't be gone more than a day. So just relax, walk around, nap, socialize with local crea-" I stopped suddenly, hearing something move in the water behind me. Turning around, I saw Khax in the middle between the boat and the shore, having stopped only when I stopped talking.
"No, Khax, you're staying here! I can't bring you with me! I'm fairly certain that sleipnirs don't belong on boats, anyways." I tried to reason with the grey horse. But I saw that small glint in his eyes that told me he was going to do that thing where he doesn't listen to a thing I say. And the second I noticed that, Khax began walking through the water to my boat once again.
I walked over to the mast with a sigh, opening the sales once I heard all eight hooves hit wood. Once the wind kicked up and the boat started moving, I walked past Khax (with a half-angry look) and closed the back gate so nothing, and no one, slid back there and into the ocean. The shore got smaller and smaller as the wind picked up in my favor and the boat sailed off.
(Okay, you can stop reading here! I kinda, sorta, accidentally threw up a story down there... I'll add another break like this when things get relevant, k?)


"Here pearls, pearls, pearls.." I mumbled to myself, sighing when all I found was the blueness of water. I was looking for little stones called 'floating pearls'(http://www.pacificcoastpearls.com/pic/pearls-card-size-2.jpg). They were hollow and used for various medicines and jewelry, but they were rare. Unless you knew where to look, of course. And plus, I've always read everything interesting I could, so I was more informed than most treasure hunters.
"Come one you multi-colored stones, I really need to sell you so I can get enough travel money..." I sighed again, sitting on the deck with my head and arms over the edge of the boat. I was saving money up so I could not only travel Eldemore, as I wanted to be a Rune Bearer, but also have enough to spend at the places I go. 'And buy the things I want instead of getting all kleptomaniac and stealing them.' I noted in my head. 'Plus, this boat cost a good deal of baubles.'
My thoughts were interrupted by the stamping of hooves on the wooden deck. Turning around, I saw that Khax was standing behind me, giving me a look. 'Please tell me you're not complaining again... First it was the movement, then the splashing of water, then you were tired, and now what? You're the one who wanted to be here!'
I groaned inwardly. When Khax saw that he had my attention and walked over to where the saddle bags were and pushed then around with one of his many hooves. 'Food, of course.' I rolled my eyes and smiled, getting up and walking over there before taking out five carrots.
"Here, have these. Don't eat them all at one, okay? And remember, you basically begged me to let you come on this trip, so don't complain too much!" I smiled again and rubbed Khax's neck, putting the carrots on the floor. But Khax was focused on something else. Something behind me. Before I could look back, he nudged me forward, causing me to stumble a bit.
"Khax! You know I'm not balanced as it is-" I stopped in my tracks when I saw the sun shining off of something floating in the water.
"Pearls..." I whispered, quickly getting a fishing net and carefully scooping the near ten pearls from the surface of the water. I smiled at Khax, who was too busy eating a carrot to notice my excitement, and quickly put the pearls into a bag. 'I have enough to get me a pretty good amount of baubles, and I could always come back in a few days...' I thought, speaking slowly in my head. I looked out towards the ocean, seeing the sun already close to the horizon. 'Then again...' I felt that little bit of greed prick at the back of my head, 'I could find the pearls easier with the moonlight casting on them... and I would get more...' I went through several different points in my mind to reason with myself about how what I'd do was for more than just me, letting myself keep going without the guilty fact that I would be out longer than I told my parents I would be. I pushed the idea of them being worried at the back on my mind, and looked closer for more floating pearls.
Several hours passed, the sun set, the moon shines bright and I had found almost twenty more pearls to add to my bag. I was still looking over the edge when I was nudged in the side. I looked over at Khax, who was obviously trying to tell me something.
"What is it, hmm?" I asked softly, beginning to feel a bit tired. But Khax seemed wide awake, and he still had food out, so I wasn't sure why he was nudging me. He turned his head towards the general direction on the shore, an almost concerned look on his face.
"What? You're worried about getting home in time?" Khax snorted and nodded once. I smiled and started to pet his snout, calming him down.
"We'll be fine... I'm expected to be home by the morning. If I'm a little late, it won't matter too much." I reassured Khax, and myself, before turning around again with my fishing net to scoop up a few more pearls I saw.


(Okay, things are relevant again!)
This is how it went for the next hour. The waves were calm, the wind was steady, and one-by-one I gathered more pearls. I was looking out ahead when I saw something in the distance. Squinting my eyes, I could see the outline of an island of sorts. (going to continue later)